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SKILL.md
Rent Increase Response Skill
A rent increase letter looks like a decree; it's usually an opening position. Tenants systematically underprice their own leverage — turnover costs a landlord real money (vacancy, turnover work, listing, the risk of a worse tenant), which means a good tenant proposing a middle number with a longer lease is often genuinely the landlord's best offer. This skill runs the response in the only sensible order: validity (is this increase properly noticed, and lawful where caps exist — flagged, not assumed), then the honest stay-vs-move math, then the negotiation those numbers arm.
What This Skill Produces
The validity checklist — notice form and period, lease-term timing, and the rent-regulation question — as jurisdiction-flagged checks, because an invalid increase changes the entire conversation
The stay-vs-move ledger — the increase's real annual cost vs. the full cost of moving, both sides computed
The negotiation letter — the counter with its trade menu (term length, prepayment, self-managed wear items, timing)
The decision timeline — the response schedule worked back from the notice deadline, so options stay open
Required Inputs
Ask for these if not provided:
The increase — current rent, proposed rent, effective date, how and when notice arrived, lease status (mid-term, renewal, month-to-month — mid-term increases are usually invalid on fixed leases; flag it)
The market read — comparable listings in the building/area if known (the negotiation's ammunition; the skill structures the comp list to gather)
The tenant's record — tenure, payment history, condition of the unit; the letter monetizes reliability
The alternatives, honestly — willingness to actually move, and the constraints (school zones, commute, the fifth-floor piano); a bluff the tenant can't back has negative value
Framework: The Leverage Rules
Validity before strategy: notice periods, required forms, and (where applicable) rent-stabilization caps are jurisdiction- and lease-specific — the checklist runs the categories with verify-locally flags. An improperly noticed or over-cap increase doesn't need negotiating; it needs a polite letter noting the defect and the correct process. Mid-lease increases on a fixed term are usually just… not a thing, unless the lease says so.
Price the move honestly, both directions: the increase's cost is (Δrent × 12); the move's cost is deposit float, movers, overlap rent, time, application fees, and the new place's own next increase — plus the non-financials. The landlord's side of the same math (vacancy weeks, turnover work, re-listing) is the negotiation's quiet engine: a $150 compromise is often cheaper for both parties than turnover. The ledger states both sides.
Counter with comps and a trade, not a plea: the letter is three moves — the record ("[N] years, on-time, unit well-kept"), the market ("comparable units at [comps]"), and the proposal with an exchange: the middle number for a 12–24-month term, or prepayment, or taking over minor upkeep. A counter that gives the landlord something to say yes to outperforms a complaint every time.
Month-to-month is leverage in both hands: the landlord can re-raise soon — but the tenant can leave on short notice, which is exactly the vacancy risk the landlord is pricing. A longer fixed term trades that mutual uncertainty away; it's the most valuable coin in the negotiation and costs a flexible tenant little.
The timeline preserves options: respond well before the effective date — early enough that if talks fail, the moving option is still real (viewings, applications, notice on the current place). A negotiation entered after the alternatives expired is a request.
