Mobile Home Lot Lease

Owner of park rewriting the lease. Old lease stated the monthly rental rate and was due on (1st) of each month in advance thereafter during the remainder of the term of this lease. New lease does not state monthly rate will remain during the term of this lease. Am I right in assuming that the monthly rent can be increased at any time during the lease by writting a new lease? In other words, no monthly rate lock in for the period of the one year lease? I am talking about a park with mostly seniors who don't bother read the lease, that will probably have their rent increased without notice.

[OHlandlord]

Does the new lease not have a rental rate listed, or does it just not state that it will remain the same throughout the lease? A lease with no rate listed is useless. One without the non-increase clause is valid. This clause is unnecessary since it is a given. The rent within a lease cannot be increased during the term of the lease. No term of the lease can be changed until the lease expires. Now if the new agreement is written as a month to month agreement, instead of a lease for a set period, the rent can be increased at any time by just giving proper notice to the tenants. Is this what you wanted to know?

It is a twelve month lease. This is how it is written under Lot Rental Payments: $.............upon execution of this instrument for the first month"s rental, and $...............Deposit. Then it continues on explaining how and where to make the payments. All other leases I have seen usually have a statement such as: the rental amount shall remain in effect for a period of not less than one year from the rental effective date. I just feel they are leaving the door open for a rental increase and new lease after the first months rent. Appreciate your rapid replies. Thank You.

[OHlandlord]

Assuming there is an actual amount of rent listed on the blanks in that 12 month lease, they cannot change the rent amount until the lease ends, whether or not that increase clause is listed. Once a lease is written, the terms must remain the same until the end of the lease *unless* there is a specific clause listed that allows an increase (and the amount of the increase and when should be listed). For instance, there can be a clause that says you can incur a rent increase if there is a property tax increase of more than 10% and that you will pay an increase equal to the property tax increase. In this case, there could be an increase in your rent level and you know when and how much it will be (when the increase in taxes occurs and for the amount of the increased taxes.) If there is no amount listed in the blanks, the tenant should not sign the lease. You should never sign a legal document with blanks in it. But absent a clause for an increase (they are unusual), the LL cannot increase the rent for the length of the lease.