Unregulated & Deregulated Housing

If your housing is not regulated, then your rent can generally only be raised if your lease says it can be raised, or if your lease ends. If you are a month to month tenant, your landlord has to give you at least 30 days notice before raising your rent. Your landlord generally cannot change any terms of a rental agreement. These issues will usually be covered by your lease. 

If you have a long-term lease, your landlord may not raise your rent until the lease ends, unless your lease says that the landlord can raise the rent before the lease ends. If you do not have a lease, you are renting your apartment on a “month-to-month” basis. In that situation, your landlord must give you the same amount of notice to raise the rent as the landlord would have to give in order to end your tenancy, which would be 30 days. 

However, your landlord may not raise your rent in a way that discriminates against you or retaliates against you. For example, the landlord cannot raise the rent only for members of a certain race, religion or ethnic group. Also, your landlord may not use a rent increase in retaliation against you for exercising your legal rights. For instance, you landlord cannot raise your rent in response to your legitimate complaint to a local housing agency about a broken heater. And your landlord cannot raise your rent if you exercise your rights to have a roommate. 

Legal Editor: Darryl M. Vernon, December 2014 (updated November 2018)