goodness knows how many of you people I've bitched to about this by now:
My new landlord wants to raise the rent. he wants me to pay out 60% of the rent when he gets the bedroom + attached bathroom and most of the space. All this with the provisio that I have no visitors w/o his consent, no pets, no loud music and no cooking apart from the most basic. This is patently ridiculous. His claim is that similar units are much more expensive due to rent control, so I'm getting a steal. Frankly, I was getting a steal before he raised the rent (balanced with the fact that the place is a dump), with the rent up, I might as well move somewhere else. It may be farther from campus, but I get to keep pets, play my music loud, etc... all for (about) the same rent.

I'm not sure I even want to negotiate with him anymore, since this is an obvious source of animosity. Maybe I'm being oversensitive, but his email that started all this seemed a little patronising. (which I won't quote yet) On some level I feel a bit miffed simply because I was counting on this place - it was pretty much my only option. It's a good thing he has me pissed, though, because I wouldn't go looking if I wasn't pushed... The real problem is that my flight is booked and I will be back on the 1st day of term. Meaning I have 2 weeks during exam period to deal with all this mess. Not a good situation.