How to Fight the Landlord and Win: Negotiating Rent

When my husband and I moved from Pennsylvania to Florida, we visited nearly every apartment complex in a 30-mile radius to find just the right mix of safety, convenience, and affordability. We had a strict budget of $1,000 a month for a 2-bedroom home that would also allow us to bring our dog.

After driving hundreds of miles in circles through every neighborhood, we did find a fantastic apartment right under our budget at $950 that was in a lovely location.

We loved that apartment. It was charming and lovely. Birds were singing, the sun was shining, and we were blissfully unaware this would come crashing down.

The Reckoning

When it came to the renewal notice time, we received a polite letter letting us know that our rent would be increased to $1200. And they were going to start charging a pet fee of $50 a month. I started researching apartments all over again.

But I realized that even if we did find an affordable place, the cost of hiring a moving truck and movers (or buying lots of beer and coaxing friends), changing our licenses, updating checks and everything else that inexplicably pops up when you move would cost us a fortune. I spent the rest of that afternoon hyperventilating and breathing into a brown paper bag.

Then it occurred to me: this wasn’t set in stone, everything is negotiable. Apartments typically see an annual increase of 3.6% in rents; the rate my landlord was proposing was a staggering 26% increase. This was ludicrous and I was appalled, until I remembered these three things:

• Loyalty is Worth Money: Replacing tenants is expensive for landlords. They have to fix up the unit, hire staff to paint, caulk, and do necessary repairs, and then they have to sit and wait for a new tenant with the income and credit to rent it.
• A Good Tenant is Hard to Find: Many tenants don’t pay their rent on time. Others are hard on their units, causing holes and carpet damage. Then there are the tenants who like to try out their speakers at all hours of the night, causing constant noise complaints. I’ve learned to love these people because they make me look like a saintly tenant.
• They’re Not the Only Game in Town: While my landlord may want to think she had the best complex in the area, it really wasn’t. New complexes in the area offered competitive prices, move-in specials, and more amenities for comparable rent.

These three facts gave me the power and the confidence to do what I do best: negotiate. I sat down and typed up the following email to make my case:

Dear [Leasing Manager},

I am writing regarding the lease renewal packet I received today.

Since my husband and I moved in last year, we’ve been good tenants with good payment records and no late fees. We’ve been careful to maintain the apartment properly and add to the community; you even featured our balcony on your Facebook page with all of its flowers!

With the rent increase, our monthly payment would go up 26%, which I believe is a quite a bit higher than the industry standard 3%. My monthly payment would jump from 950 to 1200, totaling more than $3000 in additional payments annually, not even including the pet fee. At this rate, the cost of moving would be considerably less than renewing.

I have looked at other apartments nearby, and for my current rate, I could get another apartment with more amenities like valet trash and a dog park. Apartment {NAME} just 3 miles away is $200 less and offers a 24-hour fitness center.

We’ve been very happy in this apartment; the grounds are beautiful, the staff has been terrific, and if there’s any way to make it work for us to stay, we’d love to renew for 12 months. 

I was hoping we could negotiate the terms of my lease in one of two ways:

1. Keeping my current rent rate but paying the pet fee, bringing my total payment to $1000

Or if that’s not possible:

2. Compromising with a 10% increase flat fee, which would be $1050 and the very top of our budget.

I hope we can come to an agreement; thanks for your help!

Then I sat and waited while biting my nails to bits. The leasing manager did respond quickly. She countered by saying she would lower it to a flat rate of $1150, to which I told her was out of our budget and that option #2 was truly all we could afford. She hesitated but finally agreed to that offer.

By just sending a quick email, I was able to stay in the apartment we loved and ended up reducing the annual increase from $3000 to just $1,200, a substantial saving.

Negotiating is usually never fun, but when you stand firm and make your case with real information, you can save yourself a lot of headaches and a lot of money. Remember that as a good tenant, you are in a powerful position to bargain.

Your turn: Have you dealt with significant rent price hikes? Have you ever negotiated better rent?

About the Author: Kat Tretina is a freelance writer focused on personal finance, healthcare, and pets. She’s obsessed with her dog and investigating her new hometown in Florida. You can follow her @Felix_the_Katt on Twitter or on her website www.ktretina.com.