Prorated Rent – A Must Read for Tenants

By: Abdullah Haroon

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NYC is a big rental market. Two-thirds of the population lives in rental apartments. Therefore, the government takes extra care of tenants and effectively makes new legislation to facilitate them. Apart from the legal aspect, a culture of landlords and tenants is developed to a level in NYC that both take care of each other.

In a conventional rental lease, tenants usually leave at the end of the month and step in at the start of the new month. It happens and people follow the same routine. However, life never plays too expected and things may go wrong at any time. Sometimes, you might need to end the lease midway through the month, and on other occasions, you might need an apartment in the middle of the month. Now, in a traditional rental procedure, you got to pay the whole rent.

If you happen to move in towards the second half of the month, or if you have to abandon the property at a random date of the month, would you be required to pay full rent?  A big NO if you educate yourself about the prorated rent.

In simple words, it is a way to save money from paying rent where you do not need to. Give a glance down the article to know how you can make the best out of prorated rents.

What is Prorated Rent?

As the name suggests, it is called prorated rent because it is counted relative to the no. of days a tenant lived in the property. In other words, it is an adjusted rent you get to pay based on the date you moved in. It makes a fair system of rent.

If your landlord has agreed to adjust the rent of the last month of your lease, you may calculate it by yourself and ask her to make adjustments. It would let you save some money you would need at a new place. In addition to it, it gives you a sense of relaxation that you do not have to bother about occupying the property even when you want to leave and the least you would want is to pay the rent of those days you did not even want to stay. This is the perfect tool to make that happen.

Is it Legally Binding?

If we talk about the law, landlords are not forced by law to facilitate you with prorated rent. There is no such legislation that may help you push your case. They do it as a kind gesture and out of fairness. Maybe a token action for the relationship you maintained with your landlord all this time.

Landlords are not obliged legally to adjust rents according to the move-in date. Therefore, it is a great idea to discuss it before signing the lease. And it is always better to get it in writing. If you are not able to get it in writing, there is the least chance that you would get adjusted.

Can you Prorate Rent if you Move Out Early?

What if you have to leave the property in the middle of the month and now want to get an adjustment? To be honest, you had committed for the month and now leaving on your own which does not bind the landlord to make adjustments in the rent. The decision rests with the landlord if she feels like adjusting it or not?

Negotiate Before Signing the Lease:

If you happen to be a tenant, the lease document is one of your most important documents. It is not only great to read it thoroughly but also get everything included in it which your landlord has agreed upon.  When you are about to sign the lease document, give it a proper glance and get everything written. The landlord is likely to introduce a clause if she will be offering adjustments or not.

If you happen to discuss it with the landlord, discuss the prorated policy on moving out as well. If your landlord seems to agree with you on moving out adjustment, include that clause in the lease.

What you need to learn here is that there is no such legal binding upon the landlord for giving you adjustments at all costs. It is simply out of fairness that landlords offer it and not every landlord offers it.

How to Calculate Prorated Rent?

It involves simple math to calculate your prorated rent. What you have to do is to figure out how much is your rent per day and with the help of that, you can calculate the prorated rent.

For Example:

If your monthly rent is $3000 and you lived in the apartment for 20 days of say November

Divide your monthly rent on days of the month = 3000/30

= $100 per day

Now multiply no. of days you lived in the apartment with per day rent:

Your prorated rent = 100* 20= $2000

Final Thoughts:

If you have read the definition, you can easily comprehend the concept of prorated rent. It allows tenants to pay the rent for days they have spent on the market.

It was never legally binding on the landlord instead they embraced the idea out of higher moral standards and to be fairer with their tenants. So it is the best strategy to negotiate with your potential landlord before striking a deal when you think you should not spend money on rent if you are not using it. Chances are your landlord would cooperate and endorse your argument.