Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Pennsylvania
My partner and I have been living in an apartment with a written lease for just over a year now. During the summer our apartment complex changed ownership. Our leases expired in the beginning of September and we received a paper in the mail about renewal with the same rent. We signed the renewal and gave it back immediately. It is now October 25th and we received a new lease in the mail that they are demanding to be signed within three days. The rent is raised and the lease is completely different for out original one. The lease is dated October 25th but has the terms of the lease Beginning on September 1'st. We live in a small town in Pennsylvania. I was wondering if it is legal to raise our rent like this?
1 Answer from Attorneys
I would advise you to contact an attorney to review your lease and the correspondence sent you and the purported new lease. It sounds like the renewal if it in fact said the lease would be renewed for an additional year under the same terms as your previous lease that what the landlord is doing is not proper. However without reviewing both leases and renewal document you signed this is only speculation. I would immediately contact and consult with an attorney to see if you have recourse against the landlord.