Rental properties can often be lucrative investments (which is likely the main reason why you have chosen to manage your own in Saint Charles). Maximizing your ROI on a rental property requires charging the right amount of rent. While you do not want your rent prices to be prohibitive, you also want to charge enough to make owning and maintaining the property worth your while. This leads to the question of when you can legally raise a tenant’s rent. Many come to our team here at Stephen A. Martin Attorney at Law with this same inquiry. The answer depends on the situation you are in.
If your tenant has done nothing to violate the law or the terms of their lease agreement (and your reasons for raising the rent are strictly financial), then you can only raise the rent after their lease agreement has expired. That applies only cases where you have a written agreement. Oral agreements between you and your tenant are only considered valid from month-to-month. In such a situation, you would only need to give the tenant one month’s notice before raising the rent.
According to the Office of the Attorney General of Missouri, there are certain scenarios in which you are allowed to double the rent without needing to first inform your tenant. These include:
- If the tenant allows another to take over the property without your permission
- If the tenant refuses to leave the property after their lease has expired
- If the tenant subleases the property without your approval
You can learn more about your rights as a landlord by continuing to explore our site.