Rent Increase

luvflyin

luvflyin

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Have a Duplex in California. [insert california jokes]. I want to raise the rent on one of the tenants but not the other. Wondering if this is likely to be a problem. There are no sexracereligion etc issues.
 
As long as it's not done because of race, religion, etc... you're free to discriminate. Presumably you aren't living in one side of the duplex. Don't forget about the AB 1482 caps.
 
luvflyin said:
Yup. So whadda ya think? Is liking a form of discrimination?
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I'm not a landlord, but I've heard of this happening from many people who are. I don't see why this would be an issue. Companies charge different prices to different customers all the time.
 
just did this....sent tenant A a text....hey your rent is going up $100 in January. He's gone a few years with no increases. His response...that sucks. I said yup. Upstairs folks are staying the same.

I don't usually automatically raise rents....but, if someone is there a few years I do. Once there is turnover I raise it.
 
Why would they need to know how much you charge the other?

I would increase to both and give a discount to the one you like
 
I never raised rent, unless there was a problem, or it turned over. I figured a good tenant was worth more than the unknown problem tenant. So yes my good tenants got an increasingly good deal. It kept them in the places longer. My goal was for someone else to pay off the property for me. So very long-term goal. I think the only people you can safely discriminate against are white males and smokers. Everybody else gets protected class status. So be very careful, especially in Kali. Then who knows what the new rules might be with covid excuses. Making every effort to appear MORE than fair seems to be a good plan. Still might cost more than the increase will net you. As said, its no ones business but youor and the tenant what the other pay. but in court, that information will be valuable and subpoenaed.
 
Going through this now...there is nothing to prevent different rents for different units but there are rent increase caps unless it is a single family house or Condo...and you need to check local rent increase regs as well if that triggers anything.
 
Oldmanb777 said:
I never raised rent, unless there was a problem, or it turned over. I figured a good tenant was worth more than the unknown problem tenant. So yes my good tenants got an increasingly good deal. It kept them in the places longer. My goal was for someone else to pay off the property for me. So very long-term goal. I think the only people you can safely discriminate against are white males and smokers. Everybody else gets protected class status. So be very careful, especially in Kali. Then who knows what the new rules might be with covid excuses. Making every effort to appear MORE than fair seems to be a good plan. Still might cost more than the increase will net you. As said, its no ones business but youor and the tenant what the other pay. but in court, that information will be valuable and subpoenaed.
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Yeah. It's if it becomes a court case is what I'm worried about.
 
Shawn said:
Going through this now...there is nothing to prevent different rents for different units but there are rent increase caps unless it is a single family house or Condo...and you need to check local rent increase regs as well if that triggers anything.
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I'm all up on that. It's 5% plus Cost of Living Index.
 
I put an automatic rate increase into the lease using county's recommended rent increase rates. Has worked well so far.
 
This is why companies do not want their employees to discuss their pay with each other.
rene86mx said:
Why would they need to know how much you charge the other?

I would increase to both and give a discount to the one you like
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Rich Holt said:
This is why companies do not want their employees to discuss their pay with each other.
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I find this hilarious, the private sector discourages employees privately discussing their wages and political movements promote making all govt employee wages public.
 
That one apartment has a xxxx that the other one doesn’t, or has a better or newer xxxx. Not that it’s any of your business.

Fill in xxxx with anything that fits.
 
Make sure you have a reason that you can articulate.

*This tenant causes far less damage/maintenance.

*This tenant always pays on time.

Etc
 
There's no requirement that every tenant gets an identical increase in rent.
You don't mention where in California the duplex is, so here's a link that shows the Los Angeles/Long Beach/Anaheim area.
https://www.bls.gov/regions/west/news-release/consumerpriceindex_losangeles.htm

You can raise rent 5% + whatever the local consumer price increase index went up by - as measured from April of this year to April of last year. The max total increase is 10% though. For the LA/Long Beach/Anaheim area, that would be 8.6% total increase. You would then have to wait 12 months until you can raise the rent again.
If for some reason you wanted to break it into two increases (January and then March for instance) you can, but no more than 8.6% for the year (again this is the LA/Long Beach/Anaheim area in this example). You can't increase rent more than 2 times in any given 12 month period.

When you sell your property, the new landlord can't raise rent beyond these rules. The only way around this would be for the new owner to pay tenants a month of rent and say that he is either renting to a family member or about to do such a major remodel, that the tenant needs to move out. That means that your property value is heavily impacted by what you are charging for rent. I've seen buildings that are priced 200K lower than expected because the owner never raised rents.

These CA rent control laws are in effect until 2030. They were put into place because CA wanted to do something to protect renters from runaway rent increases, but (at least for me as an owner) the net result is that I now raise rent every 12 months and I raise it to maximum I can because I can't make that money up down the road.
 
Rich Holt said:
This is why companies do not want their employees to discuss their pay with each other.
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If anyone anywhere ever thought that was effective, they are living in dreamland. Perhaps many, or even most employees will follow the rules, but eventually, someone will violate them. (I have often been corrected for using terms like "everyone" or "always" but in this case, I am sure I am right).

Let them discuss it(rent) if they wish. You could even tell them it is a PIA charge, as long as they are not part of a protected group.
 
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JOhnH said:
If anyone anywhere ever thought that was effective, they are living in dreamland. Perhaps many, or even most employees will follow the rules, but eventually, someone will violate them. (I have often been corrected for using terms like "everyone" or "always" but in this case, I am sure I am right).

Let them discuss it if they wish. You could even tell them it is a PIA charge, as long as they are not part of a protected group.
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Well, not only are the rules ineffective, for many employees they're also illegal.

Employees who are entitled to collective bargaining are entitled to discuss their pay with each other under the National Labor Relations Act(NLRA). Managers, for instance, are not included, also employees not under NLRA like airlines and governments.

If you are a covered employee and they tell you that you are prohibited from discussing salary, or better if they put it in writing like a handbook you can file a complaint with the NLRB(National Labor Relations Board).
 
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