Rent Hike (Continued)

A night of bad sleep. I am even more cross now over the notice I received from the landlord yesterday. The notice itself says my previous contract expired last month. And as practiced customarily and legally, I assumed the contract was renewed (or a new contract went into effect) with the same conditions unless either party decided otherwise. The landlord should have notified me of any change of the contract before it had expired and renewed. If they insist on this 26% rent hike or any unreasonable increase for that matter, I may have to seek legal counsel or contact an agency for consumer protection, with great reluctance. I will be flexible and am not refusing any increase out of hand. But I should be resolute for the sake of fairness and principle.