What % is fair increase on an L.A. house rented to a single man with a good job who repairs & cleans nothing?

I am a divorced woman whose only asset is a 2 bedroom/2 bath house with a tiny yard in L.A. My renter is a very polite young man, but the house is not kept clean, his dogs have chewed the kitchen cabinets, the bathroom vent rusted because he wasn't using the fan, etc. I'm okay with continuing to rent to him, but I'm interested in public opinion about what a fair percentage rent increase would be in these circumstances?
What % is fair increase on an L.A. house rented to a single man with a good job who repairs %26amp; cleans nothing?
The rent increase should be calculated in accordance with the repairs you expect to make and the devaluation of the proberty. It has been my experience that most damages that renters cause are rarely covered by the deposit made when renting to them. I personally notify the renter that I will be coming by monthly to replace the air filters on the HVAC unit and do not allow exception to this requirement. It gives me opportunity to inspect the house and at the same time gives me the security that the filters are changed regularly to avoid damage to the unit. I had to replace a unit that cost me about $3000 because the filter was not changed regularly and that was enough to convince me. And if I found that a renter was negligent in taking care of the property (MY PROPERTY) then I needed to get another renter before the repairs cost me more than the profit I was making from the rent. In my opinion, legal problems of notification are the least of your worries. While you may want to continue to rent to this individual, the cost of repairs is going to seriously take from your only asset. Chances are when you raise the rent, he is going to look elsewhere for a place to live anyway.
Reply:Fairness really has nothing to do with it. This is a matter of negotiation. You must decide the minimum amount of money you will be willing to accept under the terms of a new rental agreement. You can ask for a sum larger than that, but do not let yourself go below your minimum amount or you are sure to be unhappy.





I mentioned a "rental agreement". I sure hope you have a written agreement with him. It is the only legal protection either of you have, especially when it comes to things like property damage caused by pets. If you don't believe me, just watch a couple of episodes of "Judge Judy" or the like. I think 75% of those shows involve one person "renting" in some manner to another without a written agreement. Small Claims Court and Civil Court dockets nationwide are choked with these types of lawsuits.





In the end, "fairness" is whatever amount of money the two of you agree on as well as the conditions spelled out in your agreement.





Good luck with your situation.
Reply:Standard rent increase is 10 percent every year or two. You must also give a 30-day notice that the rent is increasing. And, you cannot increase it during the middle of a lease term.





You can increase it by more. But, if you increase the rent by more than 10%, you must give 60 days notice.





BTW - if there is damage to the house (like the dog chewing the cabinets), you can keep up to all of the deposit as required for repair and cleanup of the house whenever he chooses to leave.