Rent

**Rent** is a payment each player must make once a Month for living in their Apartment. Rent can only be paid at the Rent Office on the last Week of the Month.

A player's Rent remains static so long as they keep the same apartment; Their Rent will only change if they lease a different Apartment. Rents for other Apartments available on the market fluctuate with the Economy. A player can therefore lower their Rent by letting go of their current apartment and leasing a cheaper one.

Failure to pay Rent by the end of the month results in Rent Debt, which will be Garnished from the player's Wage each time they Work. If a player needs more time to get the money, they may ask the Rent Officer for a one-Week Rent Extension.

## Initial Rent

All players start the game with a Low-Cost Housing apartment. This apartment is paid for through the end of the month.

Each player's first **Rent** payment must be made on Week #4 -- the end of the first Month -- and then every 4 Weeks after that.

The Rent for the starting Apartment is always $325, and will remain as such until the player switches Apartments for the first time.

## Rent Notice and Payment

On the fourth Week of every Month, each player receives a notice that their Rent is due. The player's current Rent is displayed on the note.

Rent can be paid by visiting the Rent Office during that same Week with enough Cash on hand. Clicking the "Pay 1 Month of Rent" option deducts the entire Rent from the player's Cash and extends that player's lease until the end of the following Month.

The Rent Office is normally only open for business on the same Week that the Rent notices appear.

## Rent Debt

If a player fails to pay their **Rent** by the end of the Month, they go into Rent Debt. This debt is initially equal to the player's one-month Rent.

While the player is in Rent Debt, each time they Work at any job, half their Wage is automatically Garnished and used to pay off an equal amount of the Rent Debt. The player also loses an extra $2 in interest fees each time this happens.

If half the player's Wage is greater than the remaining Rent Debt, the game garnishes only as much money as needed to clear the debt. No interest is paid in this case.

A player may remain in Rent Debt indefinitely, if they so choose. They will never be evicted from their apartment. The only downside is the interest they must pay each time they Work.

## Rent Advance

A player with enough Cash on hand can pay an advance on their **Rent**. This is done by clicking the "Pay 1 Month of Rent" button at the Rent Office when they don't owe any rent. The price of a Rent Advance is equal to the price of the normal Rent payment.

Paying a Rent Advance extends the lease on the apartment by an extra 4 Weeks. A player may pay for multiple Advances all at once, if they can afford it. Each payment adds 4 more weeks to the lease.

**NOTE:** If you plan to switch Apartments any time soon, avoid paying any Advances. They will be all forfeited once you switch apartments!

## Rent Extension

A player whose **Rent** is due can ask the Rent Officer for an Extension of one Week.

The Rent Officer may approve or deny any Rent Extension request. Their decision is based on random chance, but is heavily influenced by the number of Extensions that the player had already received in the past.

 1
 2
 3 or more

A player's very first Extension request is always approved. The chance of any further approvals drops by 25% each time the player receives an Extension, to a minimum of 25%.

* If the request is denied, the player must pay their Rent by the end of the Turn or else go into Rent Debt. The player also receives **-1 Happiness**.
* If the request is approved, the player does not go into Rent Debt at the end of the Turn. Instead, the deadline is pushed to the end of the following turn, and the Rent Office remains open (for that player only) until that time.

A player can only ask for an extension once per Turn. However there is no hard limit on the number of consecutive extensions they can receive, if they keep requesting them and getting approved.

If a player ever goes into Rent Debt for any reason, their Rent Extension requests will henceforth be automatically denied *until the end of the game*.

## Switching Apartments

A player's Rent can only change if they leave their current Apartment and move into a new one. They will then have to pay the Rent of the new apartment each month. Players may only directly switch from one type of apartment to another, e.g. from Low-Cost Housing to Security Apartments and vice versa.

Switching apartments is done at the Rent Office, and is only possible when the Office is open for business (usu. when the Rent is due, at the end of the month).

Switching apartments requires the player to pay a whole month's rent on the new apartment. Any Advance Payments on the old apartment are forfeited, though any existing Rent Debts remain unchanged.

The new apartment's monthly Rent depends on its type, as well as the state of the Economy at the time of the switch. Low-Cost Housing apartments have a baseline Rent of $325, whereas Security Apartments have a baseline rent of $475. These values fluctuate together as the Economy improves and declines. During a Market Crash, Rents can reach *half* their baseline values.

Since all players start the game with a Low-Cost Housing apartment, their first switch will always be to a Security Apartment. However, if the Economy sinks early on, it is quite possible that their new apartment will cost less than the old one, despite being decidedly better. Conversely, if the player owns a Security Apartment and the Economy booms, switching back to Low-Cost Housing can actually increase their Rent. Pay careful attention to the new Rent before making the switch.

## Lowering Rent

It is possible to use Apartment Switching to keep the same type of apartment while reducing the Rent.

Since a player cannot switch to the same type of apartment they already live in, lowering the rent requires making two consecutive switches during the same Turn.

1. First, visit the Rent Office during its business hours and determine whether the going rent on the same type of apartment you already own is significantly lower than what you are paying right now for that apartment. If the difference is not great, this trick may cost you more money than it saves.
2. Note the current prices of both the Low-Cost Housing apartment and the Security Apartment, and add them together. You must gather this much Cash to make the switch.
3. Switch from your current apartment type to the other type. Then immediately switch back to the first type.

Naturally, this trick works best during a Market Crash, as prices will be extremely low. It's quite possible that paying for both apartments will be cheaper than one month's Rent for your current apartment.

This trick is not normally recommended during an Economic Boom, even if you are currently paying a very high Rent for your apartment. Wait for the prices to drop first.