Article 13

What it means when you sign

This article covers changes at renewal time. Before the lease term ends, the landlord and the tenant may amend any of the contract terms, or revisit the rent, whether upward or downward, for the purpose of renewing the lease.

If they cannot agree on this, the committee may set the fair rent. In doing so it takes into account the criteria the law sets for deciding market rent.

When you are about to sign, this article means that a renewal is a point at which both sides may ask to change terms, not only the rent, and that the change can go in either direction. A clause that says the lease renews on identical terms, or that the landlord sets the renewal rent alone, can be read against this article, which gives both sides the opening to renegotiate and gives a committee the role of setting a fair rent if talks fail.

The article describes what the parties may do before the term ends. It does not say that either side must accept the other's proposal.