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Q.What if I am served with notice of a rent increase on the 5th of the month? When does it become effective?
A.Most notices of a rent increase state that the increase will go into effect at the beginning of the rental period (typically the 1st or 15th of the month). If a landlord wishes to increase the rent by 10% or less in a month-to-month rental (which requires a 30 days advanced written notice) on July 1, the landlord must either personally serve the tenant by June 1, or mail the notice to the tenant by May 27.
A landlord can make the increase effective at any time in the month so long as proper advanced written notice is given. If the rent increase becomes effective in the middle of the rental period (say on June 20), the landlord is entitled to receive the increased rent for only the 20th on. For example, assume there is a month-to-month tenancy and the rent is $500 due on the 1st of each month. Assume the landlord increases the rent $50 (10%) and personally serves the tenant with notice of the rent increase on June15. The rental increase cannot take effect until July 15th. On July 1, the tenant would pay $525 ($250 for the first half of July and $275 for the second half of July).
However, if the landlord delivers a notice of a rent increase to a tenant on June 15 which states that the rent increase takes effect on July 1, then tenant only owes the landlord $500 rent on July 1 (because the notice was defective), and $550 rent on August 1.
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