In the middle of our lease, our rent is going up.

When he first told me that we needed to start sending more money starting in January I didn’t really have any issues with it. The real reason he want us to start sending more money is because the water bill was increased. The place we live has an HOA and they are the onces that set the amount that each unit pays for water.

So I told Amanda what he said and she had a big problem with it.

What I didn’t realize is that our lease clearly states that we pay $X for rent and handle all utilities. However it also says the landlord is responsible for the HOA fees and the water. So even though the lease says he pays for the water, we are really paying for it because he just added the fixed amount to our rent. So in his mind when the HOA increased the fixed amount for water, we needed to start sending more money to cover it.

When Amanda called to have the awkward conversation we experienced him turn from being the nice landlord to the angry landlord. Amanda felt threatened when he said, “if that’s the way you want to do business, the letter of the law goes both ways.” One of the most ridiculous aspects of this situation is that from now until the end of our lease, the amount of extra money that we will end up sending would total $40.

FORTY DOLLARS.

I am seriously afraid of the worst case scenario where we have to go to small claims court to fight him for our security deposit back. But I’ve seen enough Judge Judy to know that we are in the right. Regardless how much the increase is. A lease is a contract. If he wants us to pay whatever the water bill happens to be, don’t write that you’re responsible for it.

Now I know this is going to sound cheesy, but I’m stuck in this story wondering what Jesus would do. Our landlord knows we are planting a church. I have told him to his face. He knows that we are Christian. I’m wondering how this goes down without him being bitter about our unwillingness to pay more, even if it is $10.

Whether or not I agree with what the landlord wants, I have to love my wife. I have to support her. We are a united front in all situations. But I can’t help try to figure out how this situation ends with the landlord not thinking some Christians don’t want to pay more. How do we stand up for ourselves and do what we think is right when it could potentially damage the view he has of the faith we represent?

Is it as simple as staying calm and nice? Can we, or should we, just accept the fact that at the end of the day the landlord is probably not going to think the best of us? Should we try to rest in the fact that we chose not to get angry or be petty?