[kall4help]

I am looking for "tenant rights answers"... here is my situation: I have lived in the same house for over 8 years; the first 7 years was as the paying housemate with the owner of the house at which time the owner bought another house and moved to that one he now lives in; while I remained in this house for over a year and paying for the entire house myself. Which includes not only the original mortgage, taxes and insurance fees but also the added amounts from the equity loan he obtained to buy the house he is living in.
Here is my question, in all these years I have been living here I have never signed a contract. We have just always had verbal agreements. Up until this time, I have been able to swing all the additional charges. But now that this is a new year, he is hinting around that he might need to raise the rent again. Well, it is not all right with me this time! I need to know what my legal rights are at this point and what grounds I have to support my argument... for him to not be able to raise the rent. At this point, I must add... I am always current on my monthly payments and I keep the house in excellent condition!
Which by the way, he still registers this house as his actual residence and lists the house he is living in as "rental property"... so that he can keep this Florida Homestead Exemption in place.
I look forward to any and all responses... thank you for your help!

[ScottGem]

First, its not a good idea to piggy back on someone else's question. I'm requesting this be moved to is own thread in the Real Estate law forum where it belongs. Please take a look at how this site is organized for future postings.

You are a tenant on a month to month lease. As such, the landlord can raise the rent at any time with 30 days notice. You can then start looking for a place to move to if you don't like what he wants to charge. It really doesn't matter what you paid for. That was just the rental you agreed to pay.