Landlords who decide to raise the rent would have to give their tenants much more notice if a Philadelphia councilman's bill becomes law.
Councilman Bill Greenlee says the start of a new valuation system for property taxes has caused city homeowners to pass tax increases on to their tenants.
"A lot of properties in the city, taxes were raised significantly," he said. "As is normal, the landlord passes the increases onto the tenant. In some cases, the tenant got reasonably short notice of an increase of $250 to $300 a month."
Greenlee says his bill is designed to protect tenants and landlords both.
"It would mandate that a landlord, if a lease is for a year or more, would have to notify the tenant by 90 days if there is going to be a rent increase," he said. "And the second part of it is, if there is an increase, the tenant would have to notify the landlord within 60 days if the tenant is going to move out."
Currently, only 30 days notice is required before raising the rent.
