I’m at a loss here. BF and I rent a small 2-bed (Location: Morris County, NJ) for $2500 a month, just moved in 4ish months ago. Just got an email from our landlord (2/6) saying that rent will now be $2600 a month, with the first payment of such occurring March 1st. We aren’t sure if this rent increase is a violation of our lease.
Our lease states the following:
“The base rent for the initial term of this Lease is $30,000.00. Landlord reserves the rent for the entire period of this Lease. Tenant agrees, jointly and severally, to pay the rent as follows: $2,500.00 per month, to be received by Landlord no later than the 1st day of each month in advance, without billing or demand. The first payment of rent and security deposit is due upon acceptance by Landlord of this Lease signed by Tenant.”
And we cannot find any other clause in the lease that details any allowance for a rent increase and tbh it is freaking me out. The only other relevant info in the rent section of the lease is as follows, and I don’t even know if it applies:
“All amounts that may be due and payable by Tenant to Landlord shall be "additional rent" to the extent that such amounts do not violate any law or ordinance, and may be considered as unpaid rent in an action to evict Tenant based on non-payment of rent, and may also be sued for in any court of Law with competent jurisdiction.”
Does our landlord have any grounds on increasing the rent after only 5 months of a 12-month lease?? If there is an increase, isn’t sufficient notice required? We were given a 22-day heads up. Landlord also gave no explanation for the increase. I just want to gather info before I take any action or tell her to kick rocks. Please advise 🙇♀️