I live in Oregon. I received a letter from my landlord demanding a payment for water/sewer/garbage. My rental agreement states that the landlord will pay for these. It was a 30-day notice that this must be paid with rent next month, along with a lease renewal adding this charge to the monthly rent. Can they do this?
Are you currently under a fixed term lease, or are you a month-to-month tenant at the present time?
If you are a month-to-month tenant, or you are on a fixed term lease that is set to expire in 30 days or less, then LL is providing you notice of a change in the terms of your rental agreement that includes a charge for water/sewer/garbage that will take effect 30 days from now. If he is asking for a signature on the lease renewal, you would be expected to sign to acknowledge your agreement to the changes.
If you are currently under a fixed term lease, and it has not yet expired and will not within the next 30 days, then the LL CANNOT impose any changes to the lease until such time as it does expire. If you end up signing that lease renewal he has provided, he is effectively changing the terms of the lease with your consent. Under these circumstances, you are under NO OBLIGATION to sign a new lease that changes the existing lease terms unless you decide you want to do so.
