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I am not a lawyer and this

#80811 On Monday, July 21, 2008 Guest (not verified) said,

I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice - consult an attorney for real legal advice - I'm Joe Schmo from the Internet.

I don't know what state or country you are in - but in Florida - the lease is the law. So review that and it seems you already have.

I'll tackle the second part of your question first - Where I live (in Florida) there are few laws regarding landlord/tenant, but one thing is for certain - Landlords can and will charge whatever they want without any review of any kind - fair or not. Your recourse in Florida is to move. So your question of "why should single renters pay more per capita than double renters" is moot. It doesn't matter - the landlord charges what he wants. Its not illegal to discriminate based on the number of folks in the unit. However if he said "white folks pay $80 and black folks pay $55" that would be illegal. (Discrimination based on a protected attribute (in this case race)). Its certainly immoral and unfair to single renters, but thats life - and its not illegal to discriminate on that attribute.

The first part of the question - "since I have a lease stating non-negotiable rent - the landlord wants to charge for oil - can he raise the rent" - This is very precarious. This also depends on your states specific law. I can tell you in Florida all monies paid from tenant to landlord are considered "rent" - even if they are specific bills and laid out that way in the lease - it is still considered "more rent". In other states they allow for separate utility and rent payments. In Florida - this would not be allowed - and my personal response would be to send a certified return receipt letter to the landlord with a signed copy of your lease - highlighting this fact (non-negotiable rent) - and state that your lease = x/month - that is all you'll be paying. THen go ahead and pay that amount. When he rejects it or asks for more - make sure you have a copy of the instrument used to pay and prepare for court. In Florida we would then pay into the court registrar - as the landlord would move to evict. We in Florida would have to vigorously defend ourselves and hire a lawyer at this point. Your state may be different!

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