does any of the following constitute a de facto lease?

[bask]

i was wondering if any of the following constitutes any form of de facto lease or any additional legal protection beyond the very exposed month-to-month situation i find myself in:

a) the $2000 (i.e. 2-month) deposit my landlady has from me. (technically, a 2-month deposit should now be $2200, see below).

b) the recent letter stating that my new rent shall be $1100, as we discussed. of course, it does not state for how long this rent amount is or is not valid

c) the pile of check receipts i have, implying some sort of contractual agreement

while c is more an afterthought that someone insists somehow gives me some sort of rights, can anyone say anything of the other two? does the written letter protect me from arbitrary rent increases? she likes to use raising my rent as a constant threat whenever she feels like it, i can objectively say she is a very ill person as my previous roommate warned me.

[Chimera]

As a month-to-month tenant you have no lease by definition. Functioning as a month-to-month tenant does NOT magically provide you with some sort of unspoken lease. Nor does a raise in rent, regardless of what your previous deposit is. As a month-to-month, you are subject to rent increases at any given time, as long as you are provided with proper notice.

<small>[ May 04, 2003, 08:49 PM: Message edited by: Chimera ]</small>