A Houston renter shared that her apartment complex is charging $3,370 for a month-to-month rental agreement, more than double the cost of monthly rent if they signed a long-term lease.
Posted by Sierra Renae (@sierrarenaeeee) on May 29, the video has gathered over 202,000 views as of June 1.
@sierrarenaeee ♬ original sound – SIERRA✨
“So we’re moving out of state so I’m not renewing our lease anyway, but I couldn’t believe when I’d seen this,” she shared. “$3,470 month-to-month, more than double what it would be if you sign a lease.”
Behind her was a screenshot that displayed options for long-term leases for $1,568 per month, compared to the $3,370 in rent for the month-to-month lease.
“That can’t be legal,” she speculated in the video.
According to the Texas State Law Library, there are no statewide laws that place limits “on how much a landlord can increase the rent when a lease is renewed.” This means that this Houston-based landlord was within their rights to increase the rent for a month-to-month agreement.
The comment section reflected Sierra’s sense of shock, with many sharing their own experiences. A number of users lamented how much their own rent had increased recently.
“Can’t believe a decade ago I paid 450 for a 1 bed,” commented one user. “That same one now goes for 1150. and nothing has changed.”
“We were paying $1860,” mentioned another. “We had to do a 60 day extension, and they jacked it to $2125 a month.”
Some users shared that while their month-to-month lease had higher rent as well, they were much less than in Sierra’s case.
“So we’re all out here doing month to month leases right now,” commented one user. “Mine is only going up less than $200.”
“Our rent went from 1024 to 1450 bc we had to do month to month. I guess that’s not so bad now,” wrote another.
The phenomenon of month-to-month leases having significantly higher rent is not new. A US News article from 2020 reports that month-to-month leases often include increased fees. Chief innovator of Apartment Dynamics Mary Gwyn told them that “fees can run $30 to $130 (per month).”
The Daily Dot reached out to Sierra for comment via email.