 Dear George: I signed a one-month lease agreement on July 14, 2001, for the trailer I live in. My landlord just raised my rent. Can he do that? I have lived here since I signed the lease agreement, and this is the first time he raised the rent.
Answer: A landlord has the right to rent the property he owns for as much as he can get for it. That basic right of the landlord is, however, provided that the landlord complies with state laws pertaining to landlord and tenant relationships and any applicable local or municipal occupancy requirements. You state that your lease agreement covered a month term beginning on July 14, 2001, and ending on August 13, 2001. Without looking at the wording contained in your lease agreement, there is no way to comment about whether or not it contained any month-to-month automatic renewal language. However, your landlord obviously permitted you to remain in the property for approximately five years, and you agreed to pay the landlord rent. Now, the landlord, after giving you some kind of notice (usually 30 days), wants to increase the rent he receives in exchange for your occupancy of the demised premises. The landlord appears to have the right to do that.
Dear George: If a buyer's REALTOR® submits a contract to the seller's REALTOR®, and the seller's REALTOR® holds the contract for four days before submitting it, is this considered ethical? We, the buyers, have been informed by our REALTOR® that the seller's REALTOR® held the contract for four days because she thought she may have other offers coming in.
Answer: Under TREC Rule 535.156, a licensee has the duty to submit all offers and keep the principal informed of significant information applicable to the transaction. Absent instructions to the contrary, the licensee, in our opinion, must submit the offer in a timely manner. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Law, timely means "falling within a prescribed or reasonable time." Therefore, how long a licensee may hold an offer prior to submitting it to the seller depends upon the lawful instructions conveyed by the seller to the licensee. The primary duty of the real estate agent (in your case, the seller's REALTOR®) is to represent the interests of the agent's client (the seller). That usually means bringing the best price and terms to the seller.
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