Skip to main content
Postmarkr

HOW-TO

How to Send a Rent Increase Notice (With a Letter Template)

What goes in a rent increase notice's envelope, who gets one, how to send it the way your lease names, when to mail it so it arrives in time, and what to keep.

POSTMARKR10 MIN READ

A rent increase notice tells each tenant the new rent and the date it starts. To send one, write the letter once, then send a copy to each tenant named on the lease, at the notice address the lease gives, by the delivery method your lease's notices clause or your state's page names. Mail it early and plan from the day it arrives, not the day it leaves your hands. Keep a copy of each letter and a note of how you sent it.

This guide covers sending the notice, not the law behind it. Your lease and your state's page set the notice period, the method and anything the notice has to say. In the template, {{double_braces}} mark a field that changes for each tenant and fills from your spreadsheet; [square brackets] mark wording you write once. Lines are kept short; join each paragraph's lines after you paste.

Rent increase letter template and what goes in the envelope#

The letter has one job: it tells the tenant the new rent, the date it starts, the unit, and who to call with questions. Keep it to the change. A late balance goes in its own letter; our late rent notice guide covers that one.

Type amounts and dates the way they should print, with the dollar sign. Delete the bracketed lines you don't use.

[Letter date]

Re: Rent change for {{unit_number}}

Dear {{salutation_name}}:

This is written notice of a change to the monthly rent
for {{unit_number}}.

Current rent: {{current_rent}}
New rent: {{new_rent}}
Starting with the rent due: {{effective_date}}

[All other terms of your lease stay the same.]

Please pay the new amount the same way you pay now:
[how tenants pay].

[Optional, if a renewal lease or addendum follows:]
Please sign the [renewal lease or addendum] on the
following pages and return it by [return date] to
[email, portal or address].

Questions? Call or email me at [phone] or [email].

Sincerely,

[Your name]
[Owner or management company]
[Mailing address]

Filled in for one tenant, the rent lines read "Current rent: $1,450.00", "New rent: $1,525.00" and "Starting with the rent due: March 1, 2027".

The envelope holds the letter and, if you want one signed, the renewal lease or addendum on the pages after it. The letter's optional lines tell the tenant how to return the signed copy: by email, through your portal, or by mail to an address you give. How those extra pages travel depends on how you send, which the next section covers.

Who gets a copy#

Send one letter to each tenant named on the lease, addressed to that tenant by name. Two tenants in one unit get two letters.

Send each letter to the notice address in the lease's notices clause. That is usually the unit, but some leases give another address. If a tenant named on the lease has moved out and you hold a newer address for them, a copy there costs one more letter.

How to send a rent increase notice#

Start with your lease's notices clause, then check your state's page. Postmarkr prints and mails USPS First-Class letters: one notice from a PDF, or a letter for every tenant from a spreadsheet with Bulk Send.

Send it the way your lease names#

Send the notice the way your lease's notices clause says, to the address it gives. If you email tenants too, attach a copy.

Every letter goes USPS First-Class. Postmarkr doesn't send Certified Mail, doesn't issue a Certificate of Mailing (PS Form 3817), and can't give you a USPS-confirmed mailing date. If your lease or your state's notice rules name one of these for a notice, send that notice from a post office counter. See what each USPS option records.

Mail one notice without a printer#

For a single tenant, save the signed letter as a PDF and upload it. Pick a saved address or type one; every address is checked for USPS deliverability before you can pay. Approve the preview and the total, then pay by card. Your letter prints unchanged behind an address page we add, which puts the tenant's address in the envelope window.

A one-page black-and-white letter is $2.05 all in: printing, the address page we add, the envelope, USPS First-Class postage and the processing fee. Printed the next business day following payment.

Several different letters, such as each tenant's letter with a renewal lease typed for that tenant, go through the Cart: make each tenant's letter and lease one PDF, add up to 10 to your Cart, and check out once. A saved template with fields goes through Bulk Send even for one tenant, as a one-row CSV.

Mail every unit's notice from a spreadsheet#

To mail the notice to every tenant, use Bulk Send. Save the letter above as a letter template with its five fields, then upload a CSV of tenants with each tenant's notice address and a column for each field. Approve one proof, which shows one tenant's letter with the fields filled in, then pay for the batch.

Each batch takes up to 100 recipients and $1,000. If your file has more than 100 valid rows, the upload says the maximum is 100 per batch; split the file and send each part as its own batch. Bulk Send prints single-sided, and longer packets cost more. Our guide to batch letters from a spreadsheet covers merge fields in more depth.

A batch is one letter template or one shared PDF, never both, so a merged letter can't carry an uploaded PDF behind it. A shared PDF prints the same letter for everyone, so this notice takes the template route. Type an addendum that is the same for every tenant into the template, after the letter; the template editor inserts tables, and you can start a template from a Word (.docx) file. A renewal lease typed for each tenant can't ride in a batch: send each tenant's letter and lease as one PDF, on its own or through the Cart.

One tenant's row in the rent increase CSV

Column
What goes in it
Example
name
The tenant's name as it prints on the envelope, up to 40 characters
Ana Rivera
address_line1, address_line2
The notice address the lease gives, usually the rental unit; the apartment goes on line 2
123 Main St / Apt 4B
city, state, zip
City, two-letter state and ZIP of that notice address
Tulsa / OK / 74103
salutation_name
The name in the greeting
Ms. Rivera
unit_number
The unit as the letter names it; add the street if you rent in more than one building
Apt 4B, 123 Main St
current_rent, new_rent, effective_date
Each one typed exactly as it should print
$1,450.00 / $1,525.00 / March 1, 2027

Source: Address columns first, then one column for each field in the letter. Example values are made up.

Head the unit column unit_number; a column called unit prints on the envelope. Keep one set of mailing-address columns (address_line1, city, state, zip). Head any property address property_address (with property_city and so on) or delete it: a property-address column headed address or street can print on the envelope instead of the tenant's notice address. When the notice address is the rental unit itself, the unit's address goes in the mailing-address columns.

Every field needs a value in every row. Call the greeting field salutation_name, not recipient_name, because the import reads that heading as the envelope's name. A row with an empty field is left out of the batch, and the review step tells you how many rows won't be mailed. Fix those rows and send them in another batch. A template takes up to 20 fields of up to 512 characters each; this letter uses five. The name line holds 40 characters: shorten long names before you upload. Each login belongs to one organization, with one address book and one set of templates; if you manage rentals for several owners, keep one CSV per owner.

Rows with the same tenant name and identical mailing-address fields produce one letter per batch. Keep property units in a separate unit_number column, not unit: unit fills address line 2, so different unit values can produce separate letters. Two different tenants at the same address each get a letter, so give each tenant on the lease their own row under their own name.

What you keep, and what Postmarkr doesn't do#

The batch page lists every tenant's letter and its outcome. Each letter has its own status page with USPS scan updates when available. Save any PDF available from that page alongside your approved source document and the status record. A retry-ready CSV is offered only when saved inputs and outcomes are sufficient to confirm which rows were not mailed; some rows may be withheld. Use only the retry-ready CSV to resend, not the diagnostic failure report or the original list. That record isn't a Certificate of Mailing and doesn't show a USPS-confirmed mailing date. If USPS confirms a letter was lost, we'll resend it for free. A letter sent on its own has the same status page; save any PDF available there alongside your approved source document.

We don't add return envelopes, inserts, coupon books or checks. Tenants send a signed renewal or addendum back the way your letter says, in their own envelope if they mail it.

When to mail it so the notice arrives in time#

Your lease and your state's page set how far ahead the notice goes out. Count back from the date the new rent starts, and leave room for printing and delivery.

Three dates drift apart: the date on the letter, the day USPS takes it, and the day it reaches the tenant. Plan from the last of the three, the day it arrives.

  1. Write down the date the new rent starts.
  2. Count back the notice period your lease or your state's page gives. That is the date you want the letter in the tenant's hands.
  3. Count back the delivery time, plus a margin for Sundays and holidays.
  4. If Postmarkr prints it, count back one more business day: letters are printed the next business day following payment.
  5. The date you land on is your mail-by date: the last day to approve and pay, or to take the letter to the post office. Put it on the calendar with room to spare.

USPS publishes its own First-Class delivery estimate (opens in new tab); plan for the slow end.

Use the day you approve and pay, or the day you take the letter to the counter, as the letter date. If the mail-by date has already passed, pick a later start date and count back again.

What to keep in the tenant's file#

  • Your approved source copy of each tenant's letter, with a note of how you sent it, such as by mail with an email copy.
  • Whatever the mailing gave you: a USPS receipt or Certificate of Mailing if you mailed it at a post office counter, or your mailing service's record. With Postmarkr, that is each letter's status page and any PDF available there, kept alongside your approved source document; none is a Certificate of Mailing.
  • The signed renewal or addendum when it comes back, and any reply from the tenant.
  • The ledger change on the start date.

Keep it all with the lease.

Where the official guidance lives#

Start with your lease's notices clause, then your state's page. Each line below names an official resource and what it covers, all checked October 14, 2026. If your city has its own rental ordinance, check its page too.

Sources#

All checked October 14, 2026.

SOURCES (1)
  1. USPS Notice 123 – Price List (opens in new tab)

    USPS · VERIFIED SEPTEMBER 8, 2026

LettersReal Estate
ready