Rent questions please help!!!?

[smid]

i am a single mother of a minor.unfortunately for the pass eleven years its been really hard financially and ive been livin in the same apt. paying the rent plus the rent late fees each month in this 22 unit apt.building I just found out that five years ago the rent here was reduced to $65 less per unit which means Ive been paying $65 more than everybody else because all but 3 tenants are new. To add i found out that every five years the carpet is supposed to be changed and as well as repainted. not once has the carpet been changed or new paint and i did request a new paint job 3 years ago and still no paint. i have requested some recent minor repairs that have not been answered yet either! so for the past 5 years all the new tenants are coming in paying $65 less than what im paying now. is that legal or should i have been made aware of the reduction and offered the same rate as the new tenants. I payed $780 more per year than everybody else. 780 x 5years is $3,900 of overage that I paid more than the new tenants..not cool i feel like ive been taken advantage of especially when i this place is suppose to be rent control and i also found out one other tenant thats been here a few years more than me is paying $140 less than me and he said the longer u stay the cheaper your rent should be. do i have a case if so on what law and how should approach to owner to let the owner know of this new found information and ask instead of refunding the overpayment just use it toward future rent payments.please advise me i feel so taken advantage of. thank you much

[crom]

Do you have a lease? If you agree to the rent amount, that's on you. Talk to the manager and see what they will do before you worry about suing or threatening. There may be an agreeable compromise.

[boyce]

Yes you are in the right as the agreement u signed expired many yrs ago and the same is bein charged less. Thats not right. If ur on assistance though, they will take it right off of that, so watch u dont lose ur monthly income for 4 months and get one cheque for this overage. Here forward, u should be able to fix though by mentioning, simply. Careful with past if ur on Gov. assistance though. I would keep sniffin but be careful and dont make accusations till ya know it wont burn urself!