Rent control refers to laws and regulations that control how much a landlord can increase the price charged to tenants to live in an apartment. New York City has the most widely-known rent control system, since its real estate market is incredibly competitive.

Florida and her cities have no rent control ordinances. In essence, the only thing that prevents a landlord from charging whatever he or she wants is the availability of tenants willing to pay that amount. Obviously, this is likely to be higher in popular areas close to things like schools, jobs, shopping, and nightlife.

The lack of a rent control ordinance has become a major factor in most Florida cities in recent years. Tampa, the third largest city in Florida, has seen sharp increases in rental prices thanks in part to the emergence of entertainment options in its downtown corridor. The average rent across all properties in Tampa has increased from $1048.00 in 2015 to $1248 in October 2018, according to RentCafe.com.

Rent increases in Tampa are by no means extreme. In Boca Raton, as many areas of South Florida, rental prices are already high and increasing fast. Boca Raton’s 33487 had an average rent increase 13% from 2016 to 2017 for an average rent of $2197.00 per month.

Though it is perfectly legal for your landlord to raise the rent once your year-long lease is up, you could still negotiate with them to see if there is any wiggle room. You could try pointing out things like never having been late with a payment or proper upkeep of the property. If you like living where you are and you feel the increase is too much, it is worth a try to speak with them, human being to human being.

How to Negotiate With a Landlord

Of course, the landlord has obligations to you, the tenant, as well. If there have been issues with the property that have gone unresolved and the rent is still being increased, that is something else to bring up during your conversation. Be sure to document everything.

Laws Every Landlord Should Follow

The opinions in this post are solely those of the author. The author takes full responsibility for the content. Like all blog posts, this is offered for general information purposes and does not constitute legal advice.

This post was written by Stephen Hachey. Follow Stephen on Google, Facebook, Twitter & Linkedin.