American woman calls out Bengaluru landlord increasing rent by 33%: ‘If you don’t pay, someone else will'

Real estate issues in Bengaluru are real, as many claim on the internet. Not just Indians who move to the city for work and study; even a US woman complained about Bengaluru's rising rent. She talked about how landlords keep increasing rents annually, which would have been illegal in other countries like America.

American woman on Bengaluru rent

User Dana Marie took to her Instagram account and posted a video on the struggles of renting apartments in Bengaluru. She claimed that her landlord is looking for a 33% increase in rent. She called it a problem and explained why.

"My landlord wants to increase my rent by 33%. Literally just made up numbers at this point. Like 'Oh I want to charge you this much and we'll see if you don't want to pay, then somebody else will'. This is a problem," she said in her reel.

Bengaluru vs US

She added that such a rental increase can be illegal in her home country.

“This in the US this wouldn't even be legal in a lot of places. They have rent caps like 10% annually. You can't increase more than that and people actually follow the law.”

More issues in Bengaluru

She went on to point out yet another problem in the rental structure as she opened up about unsupervised rental deposits in the city.

"Speaking of law, there's literally a law in Karnataka that says you can't charge a renter more than two months' rent as a security deposit."

However, she said the rule isn't followed anywhere in Bengaluru.

"Tell me why none of us can get a place without committing to at least four to six months of rent for the deposit on a place. Why? Why six months?" she repeated in disbelief.

She added how money from the security deposit is often deducted, citing several reasons.

"And then they're gonna be like Oh I am gonna keep one month of that and I am gonna paint the entire house for literally no reason, even though the walls are fine," she explained her frustration.

Towards the end, the woman advised, "So if you're moving to Bengaluru and you find a place that fits your budget. Guess what? Your budget is gonna have a surprise next year."

Sharing the video, she also added more context in the caption: "Rent up 33% (laughing face emoji). Not even the craziest part. The craziest part is how normal this is starting to feel. That’s how it happens."

She further compared the situation in the Silicon Valley of India to the US and questioned, "For comparison, rent increases in the States are usually 3-5% and Americans have trouble keeping up with that. Let's say here in Bengaluru, you get a very average 10% annual increase on your rent. Over 10 years a 30k rent becomes 80k and 1L becomes 2.6L. Is it sustainable?"

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Netizens react

Her post has now gone viral, earning several reactions from Indians.

Among them, a user wrote in the comments, "Just move, he is taking advantage of you, bro."

"It’s normal in Bangalore," agreed another.

One more said, "I think he's imposing foreign import charges on you."

Someone else commented, "Move out .. this is not normal."

(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. Live Mint did not independently verify the claims and does not endorse them.)