This Week's Q & A

Q: For the past three years, I have rented an apartment under a 12-month lease. Recently, the landlord sent me a copy of the new lease, which includes an addendum specifying that the lease I am about to sign will renew automatically for another 12 months unless the landlord or I indicate in writing that we intend to cancel the agreement at least 60 days before the current lease ends. I don’t have any problem with the automatic renewal, but I am concerned about the second provision, which says that the rent for the next 12 months will be whatever rate is being advertised at the time for vacant apartments. As I read this, I won’t necessarily know in advance what my new rent will be, and so I could end up stuck with a lease on an apartment I can no longer afford. I have indicated that I want to sign the new lease but am unwilling to sign the addendum. Do I have any recourse if the landlord refuses to renew the lease without the addendum?

A: The landlord has a right to insert a self-extending clause in your new lease and you certainly have the right to reject it. You also have the right to find another apartment, which is what you will have to do if you refuse to accept the terms the landlord has established for renting this one.

However, it may be possible to negotiate a more comfortable middle ground. The clause describing the rental formula for the second 12 months actually says the new rent will be the greater of the rent being advertised for apartments similar to yours, or (if all units have been leased at the time) the rent charged for the last similar apartment to be rented. The clause doesn’t specify whether the rent will be determined as of the date your current lease expires or as of the date by which you must provide notice that you do not intend to extend your tenancy – hence your legitimate concern about renewing your lease without knowing what your new rent will be. The problem can be solved fairly easily if your landlord is willing to amend the wording slightly to specify that the rent will be set at some reasonable period before your notice is required. This would eliminate the possibility that an unscrupulous landlord (and I am not suggesting yours is one) might advertise a rent double what you are paying currently for just long enough to claim that as the new rent for your unit. Your landlord may have no intention of doing any such thing, but the addendum, as currently worded, would allow him to.

Your landlord’s desire to lock you into what amounts to a two-year lease indicates an interest in keeping you as a tenant, which means that your bargaining position may be somewhat stronger than you assume. However, if the landlord is not willing to change the wording of the extension clause or otherwise address your reasonable need to know what your rent will be before you renew your lease, your choice will be as I indicated earlier: Find another apartment or sign what amounts to a blank check for any rental amount your landlord eventually decides to collect.