Landlord Did Not Give 30 Day Rent Increase Notice In North Carolina

[marniejh]

We received a notice taped to our door on Feb. 5th that our rent would be increasing. Our 12 month lease is up on Feb. 29 anyway, so we gave them back the letter the same day we received it with a notice that we would be moving out at the end of our lease. I assumed this would be fine.

However, they are trying to make us pay rent into the first week of March, as well as a $50 proration fee, because we did not give them a full 30 days notice. How in the world were we to give 30 days notice, when we didn't find out our rent was increasing until the 5th? The VP of the management company told us that not charging us this money would be illegal, because of the Fair Housing Act.

They are also claiming that the note we found on our door is a 2nd notice. I asked them for a copy of the 1st, but they are unable to provide it. (Which I think is just ridiculous.)

Also, I'm not sure how relevant it is, but I will include this information: When we turned in our notice, we put another apartment complex down as the forwarding address. The management company is claiming that because we could provide that information, we were already planning to move anyway and are just trying to get out of paying what we should. This is not true. We had been looking around at other complexes, but we did not make the decision to move until the day we received the rent increase notice.

I would appreciate any advice at all, and I thank you for your time.

[LawResearcherMissy]

Check your lease carefully. What does it say about vacating at the termination of the lease?

If your lease requires you to give 30 days notice before you move out, and you did not give notice until the 5th, then yes, your landlord is correct and you owe him rent for the five days lacking in your notice.