This Renter Was Told The Lease Would Not Be Renewed With Only 63 Days Notice Then Discovered The Landlord Overcharged $350 A Month For A Year And Won The Money Back

The text seemed simple enough. A renter in Portland, Maine, just wanted to know if month to month was an option after the lease ended. The landlord wrote back that the lease was not being renewed and the renter had to be out by April 30th. That one reply set off a chain of events that ended with the renter getting money back from a landlord who did not want to pay it.

Renter lease dispute video cover beside a set of house keys resting on a wooden surface.

The story comes from TikTok creator @margaretskiff, who opens with the line, “I sued my landlord, and I actually won.”

@margaretskiff

A Simple Question Gets a Surprising Answer

Back in February of 2025, the renter was weighing whether to stay in the apartment, or even in Maine, and texted the landlord to ask about going month to month once the lease ran out. The landlord replied that the lease was not being renewed, and that the apartment had to be empty by April 30th, the end of the current lease.

The renter was stunned. By their own account, they had always been a model tenant. It was just one person, with no pets, and there was no obvious reason not to renew. Their first guesses were that the landlord might want to sell, or might want to move in.

The Apartment Went Back on the Market

Since the renter now had to hunt for a new place, they kept an eye on listings, and the apartment showed up again. It was listed for rent again at a much higher price. The renter had a feeling the plan all along had been to raise the rent.

That mattered because, as the renter puts it, Portland, Maine, has very strict rental laws. The renter says the new asking price was outside the range of the allowable rent increase for a new lease. So the renter emailed the Portland Housing Department, explained what they were paying and what the unit was now listed for, and said they thought the landlord was in violation of something.

Two Problems the City Found

The housing department wrote back and, in the renter’s words, said “there’s a lot wrong here.” Two things stood out.

The first was notice. According to the renter, a landlord in Portland, Maine, has to give a tenant 90 days notice for non renewal of a lease. The renter was told in February and the lease ended in April, which works out to something like 63 days. That is less than 90.

The second was the rent itself. The landlord had registered the unit at $2,000, which is what the renter was paying every month. But the renter says that based on the base rent and the maximum allowable increase each year, the rent should have been only $1,650 a month. That means the renter had been paying $350 too much each month for an entire year, or $4,200 over twelve months.

On top of the back rent, the renter says the 90 day violation meant the landlord also owed $2,000.

When the Landlord Did Not Pay

The Portland rent control office reached out to the landlord, told him what rules he had violated, and told him how much money he owed. He did not pay. When that happens, the renter explains, the city takes the landlord to court, and the city handles the whole process. The renter did not have to pay a single dime.

It was not quick. By the renter’s account, it took the landlord a very long time to fix things, and the whole matter was closed a year later. But the renter got the money back.

Why the Renter Says to See It Through

People told the renter at the start that the landlord would never pay and that it was a waste of time. The renter disagrees. In the renter’s words, it was not a waste of time, and people need to see these things through, because if they do not, landlords who break the rules will never be held accountable.

The renter also has advice for anyone in Portland, Maine. You can reach out to the city and ask what the base rent is for the unit you are renting, or looking at renting, to make sure nobody is overcharging. The renter says it happens all the time.

What Any Renter Can Take From This

You may not live in Portland, but the steps in this story are useful almost anywhere. Rules differ from place to place, so treat this as a way of thinking, not legal advice.

Keep every text and email with your landlord. This whole story began with a text message.
If a notice seems short, or a new price seems high, check your local rules before you accept it.
Contact your city or local housing office. The renter here started with a simple email describing the current rent and the new listing.
Ask what rent your unit is registered at, if your area has a registry or rent limits.
Write down your dates, such as when you were told and when the lease ends, so you can count the days of notice yourself.
Be patient. In this case it took a year from start to finish.

A lot of renters would have packed up and moved on after a letter like that, and plenty of people told this one that fighting was pointless. Instead, one email to the right office turned up two violations, a refund of rent that had been overcharged for a year, and a payment for the short notice. As the renter sees it, the lesson is to ask the question, and then stick with it.

Willow and Hearth