Rent question. Rent to high?

Question

Just recently my brother in law moved out of a small mobile home located in texas. He was paying $600 a month for a 1961 two bed 1 bath mobile home (approx 500 sq ft) that is in disrepair. He would call the landlord but the landlord never attempted to fix anything. I looked up the property value online and the landlord only paid $9040.00 for the entire place. Is it even legal for a landlord to charge that much for a place like that?

Answer 1

First answer is correct. He can charge 10,000 a month if he can get somebody to pay it. He is required to keep the trailer in good, workable, living condition. If that is the problem, I would suggest going to city hall, and talk to someone who can point you in the right direction, There should be a building inspection department, which covers rental property, and can enforce codes regarding living conditions. The other thing to watch out for is cleanliness, though. If your brother is a slob, he can be cited for not keeping up his place.

Answer 2

What the landlord paid has nothing to do with rental rates.

Answer 3

Absolutely. There is no max allowable rent for property. Rents are whatever a tenant will pay. It does not matter the condition - as long as the property is livable.

The HUD office will have a list of things the unit will need to have to be livable.