I have A question my mom has lived in her building for over 18 years.. can her rent change.and should she be signing a lease.. shes.paid the same amount.new owner raised her rent up 50 dollars.then a new guy is managing the building.and raised another 20 dollars.she was paying rent and electricity.. now the landlord made her pay another 70 dollars.landlord pays all utilities now.said he could charge her for having a fireplace.that doesn't even work.charging her a 40 dollar late fee because the mailman couldn't get in to the building to give her her check... it that legal to do that.

Whenever the landlord/owner raises the rent, there has to be at least a 30 days notice, in some places a 60 day notice. Even after the original year's lease is up.

The late fee if a legal charge but why couldn't the mailman get into the building? Is there some safety hazard? Was it due to a snowstorm and everything was shut down? Is this landlord the owner or a representative? If the landlord is not the owner, go over the landlord's head and write to the owner, explaining why the rent was late. Keep a copy of whatever you write for your own records.

You can also call the Fair Housing Agency and speak to a representative there about tenant rights. Your Mom can file a complaint against the landlord/owner and whoever else is in that mix. But you need to have your ducks in a row before making any charges. Documentation and verification. Also known as covering your ___. Good luck.

The new landlord had to honor the lease until it expired. Once the lease expires, the landlord can change the conditions of the lease and also the amount of the rent. Evidently the rent has not been increased in a very long time, which was the reason for the increase as soon as it was possible. Then the landlord decided to include all utilities rather than have the tenant pay them individually. Therefore the rent was increased again. Since she has yet to sign a lease, the cost per month may still change. Fireplace: some apartments are larger than others, have additional bathrooms, or maybe a fireplace (whether it works or not). These "apartments with options" may cost more per month than others. If your mother has made the decision to continue to live there, it may be in her best interest to sign a one year lease. This will keep the financial burden from changing again. As far as "the check not being delivered by the mailman" That might be worth explaining to the landlord. Just remember, when he exempts her from paying late fees (because her check was late, right) then others will want to know why they had to pay late fees when she didn't. For a new landlord trying to gain control of a property that obviously hasn't had any changes for a long long time, this may be something he is not comfortable in doing.

There are some places like NY where there is rent control, and even rent control boards.

But in most places there is none, And if you are saying they lived in the same place for 18 years and never had a rent increase, they should have had several duriing those years.

And if she does not have a lease, they can change the rent with a 30 to 60 day notice, and increase it for utilities as prices for that rise.

She can not of course force them to give her a lease if they don't want to, but it they will agree, it will lock her payment in at the same rate for the term of the lease

If you can show the post mark on the letter, and if the weather was bad where mail was not delivered. But since rent is due on a certain day, it has to be mailed in time to get there.

First, the length of time someone has been living in an apt has absolutely no legal bearing on their rights. All that matters is the terms of the lease and any legal constraints on rental increases.

If she has paid the same rental for 18 years she should consider herself very lucky. Since she wasn't under a lease, the rental could be raised with a 30-60 notice. However, many areas do have laws that prevent increasing rents multiple times within a set period or exceeding a certain percentage within a time frame. Without knowing where she lives we can't advise.

As for the late charge, its her responsibility to make sure the payment is made on time.