Letter from landlord to tenant: Rent increase

This is a statutorily defined document.

Rental properties and the conditions of tenancy are covered by applicable laws.

A document sent to a tenant by a landlord must comply with those laws.

When increasing the rental of a property the following conditions must be met:

Notice must be given in the statutory time frame. If the notification period is 30 days, it's advisable to notify ahead of that time frame, because the letter may not be received on time.)
The date of the increase must be given.
The amount of total weekly rental payable must be clearly shown. (The weekly rate is the normal statutory description.)

Tenants can lodge an objection to a rental increase whereby:

The increase in rental isn't duly notified.
The increase is onerous or unreasonable.
The landlord has failed to discharge obligations under tenancy laws.

Note: In most cases, in the event of an objection being lodged, landlords may not charge the increased amount of rental.

The following example is a normal 'market rate' increase based on a standardized review period of 2 years. This is an increase which is determined by the average rental price of similar properties in the same area.

Example:

(Business letterhead)

Addressee
Our reference
Contacts

Dear….

Notification of rental increase for premises at (full residential address)

Notice is hereby given that weekly rental for the above premises will be increased to a rate of $210 per week as of 1 January 2009.

This notification is given 60 days prior to the commencement of the new rate of rental, and is in excess of the statutory notification period.

This increase follows from our annual review of market prices, and we believe the rental figure to be a fair price, below the local rental average.

Please contact us on the above phone or email should you require any further information.

Yours sincerely
Sign
Title
Date