Rents

How Much Rent Can a Landlord Charge

Rent is the amount of money you agree to pay a landlord for the use of an apartment. In return, the landlord agrees to provide you with a safe and habitable living space. In the majority of cases, the landlord can charge whatever the private market will allow, not what you can afford.

In public or subsidized housing or in a mobile home covered by a local rent control law, the amount of rent a landlord can charge is restricted.

• For more about mobile homes, see Chapter 19: Mobile Homes;
• For more about rent in public housing, see the booklet Rent in Public Housing;
• For more on subsidized housing programs, see Housing Programs in Legal Tactics: Finding Public & Subsidized Housing.