If there’s one thing a majority of people in this country can agree on, it’s the housing market. The cost of living has risen exponentially, and many people simply can’t afford to live, especially when renting an apartment. Unfortunately, not every state has rent control laws which means tenants can suddenly find themselves scrambling to pay their rent at the drop of a hat.
To combat this, a former property manager and current content creator named Moriah Michelle shared a brilliant hack for any renters facing a sudden price hike that just might give them some leverage to negotiate.
She shared a clever hack to negotiate your rent price if it’s being increased.
“This is for the people who rent apartments. I used to work in property management a few years ago, and here’s an insider tip,” Michelle began in her video.
Michelle continued, pointing out that while most property companies have the power to raise rent, they also have the power to adjust the price based on a bunch of other comparison rates that they have access to.
She advised renters not to speak to their leasing agents or landlords about potentially lowering a rent increase because, chances are, they would tell renters that they have no power to do that.
Instead, Michelle encouraged renters to reach out directly to the property manager and company. “They have the ability to go into the computer, and there’s a screen that pops up with all of the rates, the comparison rates,” she recalled from her time working as a property manager and the tools that were available to her to help out renters.
She claimed that from the screen on a property manager’s computer, there’s a little box at the bottom that tells them how much they can finagle a renter’s renewable price.
annastills | Canva Pro
Michelle prefaced her advice by saying that certain property management companies have different protocols, but there should always be that little box with different rates.
“So, it could be $300, $400, $500. That’s the amount of money I can fix your renewal price. Let’s say your rent is $1500 currently and your renewal rate is $1750. Then I go and I look in the box … it says $150. I can bring the renewal price down to $150,” Michelle demonstrated.
There’s a record number of Americans who are unable to afford rent.
It seems Michelle’s hack might help renters who are struggling to pay their rent or facing astronomical renewal rates. Unfortunately, few states in this country have proper rent control laws.
Currently, only 6 states, California, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Minnesota, and the District of Columbia, have rent control regulations.
To make matters worse, millions of Americans are struggling with unaffordable rent increases. According to data from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, released in January 2024, a record high of 22.4 million renter households — or half of renters nationwide — were spending more than 30% of their income on rent in 2022. The number of affordable units — with rents under $600 — also dropped to 7.2 million that year, 2.1 million fewer than a decade earlier.
It’s becoming increasingly harder for people to rely on affordable housing and rent prices, and over the last few years, it’s just gotten worse.
So, if there’s any little hack or tip that renters can use to ensure that they’re not only avoiding being taken advantage of but also that they’re not giving away unnecessary amounts of money just to have a roof over their heads when they don’t need to, they should fully take advantage of it.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.