Hi,
My leased expired June 1, 2020, in non-rent control building, my building management company never sent me a lease renewal or raised the rent in June. I was under the assumption that due to the pandemic, they empathized with the tenants and opted not to raise the rent for a period of time, so I did not reach out to them about the lease renewal. For the past three years, they have increased the rent by 10 percent every year.
Fast forward today I log in to the building management portal to request a repair of my sink, and I noticed my next rent due for September 1 went from $1,950 to $2,050. I was shocked because I did not sign the lease saying that I would pay the increase.
I called the management office right away, and one of the property managers stated that they sent out the renewal to me. This statement is a complete lie because I was steadily watching the mailbox in March, April, May, and June, and no lease renewal came.
I proceeded to ask why is my rent is being raised in a pandemic, and the property manager replied, "the last time I checked this building is not rent-controlled, we can raise the rent to whatever we want".
I was doing my best to save up to buy a house next year until COVID hit, and now my yearly income has been reduced by 14k by cost cutting. I don't want to go through the hassle of moving to another apartment amidst this pandemic. However, my management company's illegal tactics, rudeness, and dishonestly are not sitting well with me.
What are my legal options?