The house that I was renting a flat in, was recently sold to a new landlord, who moved in to the upper flat approximately 2 weeks ago. I signed a 1 year lease with my old landlord in March 2005. Our verbal agreement was that I would sign the 12 month lease but I would be vacating the property after approximatly 6 months due to the temporary nature of my job. The old landlady agreed to this arrangement because I was a previous tenant of hers. Today I received a notice in my mailbox that the new landlord was raising the rent by $100.00 per month, starting in August 1, 2005. This is only 1 weeks notice of the increase, which is approximately a 20% increase. Can she raise the rent with only 1 weeks notice and can I get out of the 1 year lease before the lease terminates???