Lease Renewal Question (renter, tenant, contractor)

[samanta.bi]

After 3 years, we are supposed to sign our lease renewal, but the landlord has added some new terms which some of them seem unreasonable to me:

1- The fixed charges in the new lease > Cleaning any appliance: $120 , Lost key duplicate "a regular key": $200
2- In the current lease, landlord is responsible for snow removal and lawn care, but the new lease says I would be responsible for them.
3- We were not supposed to have a professional shampoo cleaning, so we do keep them clean but the new lease says "A licensed contractor per-approved by Lessor shall professionally shampoo carpets move out time at Lessee’s expense and Lessee shall provide proof of completion of such carpet cleaning to the satisfaction of Lessor or Lessor may, at the sole decision of Lessor"
4- We will also be responsible for repainting costs.

My question is: Is it legal for the landlord to ask/add any costs/terms he wants to the lease?

[Hemlock140]

Sure, he can add just about anything to a new lease. As long as you sign it you are legally bound to those new requirements. Even if the old lease is extended by amendment he can add provisions/requirements to the amendment. The only way it would be questionable is if you are exercising an option to extend that's in the current lease. That would mean the same terms as the original, unless the original provides language specifying the opportunity for changes at the time of exercising the option.

[bfrabel]

I agree that those are some pretty big changes, and I don't blame you for being a little bit angry. Especially if you didn't know they were coming. Even if you did know they were coming, some of those are still pretty big deals.

You might have a little bit of leverage, assuming that you were a good tenant during the last 3 years. I would start by talking to the landlord to see if any negotiating can be done. Tell him/her that you really like the place and have been a good renter over the last 3 years. Mention that making you pay for normal wear and tear things like painting the walls and/or professional carpet cleaning seems pretty unreasonable, and that lawn care/snow removal was one of the big reasons that you decided to move there in the first place.

With this pandemic going on and with so many people losing there jobs, would they really rather push you out in order to take their chances with somebody else?

If your landlord is really just a heartless unreasonable jerk, then maybe there's nothing you can do. I would still at least try reasoning with them before deciding what your next step should be.

Good luck!