Rent raised before lease is over
I had a 1 yr lease agreement from 11/1/04 to 10/31/05, after which it would be month to month.

My landlord sent me a written notice on 7/25/05 stating that my rent would be raised after 9/1/05. I called the landlord’s office to explain that my rent cannot be raised in the middle of my lease term. The office person verbally told me to disregard the written notice.

It is now June 2006. I am renting month to month now at the same original rent, and just received a notice stating that I have an outstanding balance because I have not paid the full rent amount for the past 9 months, citing the written notice that they had sent to me (before my 1 yr lease was up, and even though I was told to disregard that notice).

My questions are:
1) Is this outstanding balance legal?
2) Am I liable for any monthly increases after 10/31/05? They told me to disregard the increase notice, and they have never sent me any other notices notifying me of an any increases.

Thank you for your help.