Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Maryland

Re: Rent Increase and Failure to Pay Rent

Look at your lease to see what it says about who is responsible for the washing machine.

Ordinarily, wear and tear cannot be made the responsibility of the tenant unless specifically agreed upon in the lease.

The landlord cannot raise the rent to cover the repair to the washing machine unless you agreed to such in the lease.

If you are a month to month tenant (i.e., the lease period has expired) then the landlord can raise the rent with 30 days notice.

The landlord cannot avail him/herself of self help by evicting you without court notice. If you are evicted under self help you have legal rights to protect and you should then seek the assistance of an attorney.

Re: Rent Increase and Failure to Pay Rent

I'm assuming that you had an initial lease for a year or possibly more and that now the initial lease period is up. If so, that means you are a tenant on a month to month basis. In this status, either party can terminate the lease by giving the other party 30 days' notice. Also, if the landlord sent you a written notice (before the end of November) saying: "I'm raising the rent by $300 beginning in January, so if you don't want to pay it, you have to move out by the end of December, and you stayed beyond the date when the rent increase went into effect, he's entitled to the higher rent. Of course, if my assumptions are incorrect, and he tried to raise the rent during the initial lease period as a way of defraying the cost of a new washing machine, that would be illegal and uncollectible, and he couldn't evict you on that basis.

As for the washing machine, unless in the lease you agreed to pay for these kinds of repairs, the landlord is responsible to replace or repair items that break down from ordinary use as opposed to the tenant's fault.