raising rent after lease renewal?

[jhx1]

I live in New York City. My (non-rent controlled/stabilized) apartment lease had an initial term of one year, which ended on August 1. My lease also specifies that I must give the landlord 60 days notice of my intent not to renew. As I did not give this notice, my assumption was that my lease would automatically renew for an additional one year term at the same rent. I recently called my landlord to get something fixed and he said "Oh yeah, your lease is expired, I'll send you renewal forms - your rent is going up 10%."

Can he do this? It seems to me that since I didn't give notice, my lease automatically renewed at the old rate.

Note that the renewal clause simply states that I must give 60 days notice of intent not to renew; however it does not explicitly state that it will renew for another year - in fact it doesn't specify how long the renewal lease will be for (though it seems reasonable to assume it will be for the same duration as the initial lease).

Thank you very much for any advice.

 

[mightymoose]

Yes, with adequate notice, your rent can be raised. At the expiration of the one year lease you then go to a month to month lease if no new lease is signed. You do not automatically get another year.

If you sign into a renewed lease of one year then you won't have to worry about the rent going up again at least until then.

The landlord should have notified you in writing of the rent increase. If you make an issue of the improper/short notice you can probably delay the increase a couple months, but it can still be raised.

 

[jhx1]

Thanks Mightymoose for the prompt and helpful reply.

I'm still a bit confused though - what is the function of having that clause if not to automatically renew my lease for year if I don't give notice. Does that clause just renew my lease on a month to month basis?

Also, assuming I do indeed not have another year automatically, how soon after giving me notice can the landlord require I pay the new rent? And if I don't want to pay it, how quickly can he force me to leave?

Thanks again!

 

[mightymoose]

That clause is there so that your landlord has plenty of notice if you intend to move away.
The lease says 60 days, but state law may only require 30 days. State law wins if there is a difference.
Unless you sign a renewal for a new term, you have a month to month lease. You will have to check NY law to see how much advance notice the landlord is required to give you for a rent increase.

 

[jhx1]

Got it. Thanks for your patience in explaining this.