Beyond California

Seattle Set to Propose Eviction Reform

As Seattle’s median income has continued to rise in recent years, high-rent burdens have plagued lower-income renters, some of whom are falling behind on rent. A September 2018 report by the Seattle Women’s Commission and the Housing Justice Project of the King County Bar Association showed that 86.5 percent of the nearly 1,500 Seattle residents who faced eviction proceedings in 2017 had failed to pay their rent.

Families Facing Homelessness After Tycoon Issues Eviction Notices

Dozens of families are facing the risk of homelessness after receiving eviction notices from one of Britain’s biggest and most controversial buy-to-let tycoons.

Fergus Wilson is giving 90 households in Ashford, Kent two months to get out after he decided to sell his 700 property portfolio in the county estimated to be worth more than £200m. He is expected to issue hundreds more evictions in the coming months before retiring to “take life easy”.

Landlord of Yale Park Complex Faces 100 Criminal Charges; His Lawyer Says He Won't Be Bullied

Omaha’s city prosecutor plans to file 100 criminal charges against the landlord of the Yale Park Apartments complex that was in such bad shape that 500 refugees were forced to evacuate four months ago.

Mayor Jean Stothert announced Friday that landlord Kay Anderson will face 100 misdemeanors relating to violating city code and not fixing repairs at the apartments at 34th Avenue and Lake Street after squalid conditions were found.

Shutdown Causes Fear of Eviction for Some Federal Workers

A Huntsville lawyer has filed her first government shutdown-related eviction. With federal workers missing their second pay check Friday and February rent coming due soon, she fears more are coming.

Attorney Sarah Taggart represents landlords statewide in residential and commercial evictions.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this. I’ve done eviction work primarily for the last decade and you see people who have lost their job, that happens that’s just a natural part of the American economy but this kind of wholesale, it's unprecedented," says Taggart.

New York Landlords Rush Rent Hikes Ahead of Housing Reforms

For Iván Contreras, it’s normal to hear complaints about sudden rent increases from his neighbors; usually a couple of new people each month will reach out. But so far in January, Contreras, a housing organizer in Queens with community group Woodside on the Move, said it’s closer to a couple per day, all coming to him with notices from the state that their landlords performed “Major Capital Improvements,” or MCIs, and now want to increase their rent.

Watered-Down 'Good Cause' Eviction Law Now Philly Law

A bill signed into law Tuesday will offer some protections to month-to-month renters in Philadelphia from discriminatory or vindictive evictions.

The bill, which City Council passed in early December, amends the Fair Housing Ordinance to require landlords to have a good reason for evicting someone with a lease lasting less than one year.

As originally proposed, the bill covered all leases, but building owners and landlord associations said that put unfair burdens on landlords that could dissuade them from renting, and infringed on their ability to run their business.

Greenpoint Rent-Stabilized Tenants Say Landlord Using Construction to Force Them Out

Leaks, excessive debris, a lack of heat and hot water, broken front doors – rent-stabilized tenants in Greenpoint say their landlord is trying to push them out of their homes with constant construction projects that have resulted in poor and unsafe living conditions.

The construction-related issues at 97 and 99 Clay St., a cluster of four buildings with a combined 25 apartments, have prompted a mass exodus of tenants, according to George Manatos. Now, only five tenants remain.

Avoiding Scams in a Market Primed to Take Advantage of Renters

In the Rogue Valley, it's hard enough to find a place to live due to low inventory and high prices, but when scammers from around the world enter the mix, the house hunting headache gets even more complicated.

It's easy to pull up Craigslist, enter your price range, and browse houses in the area. It's not so easy, however, to know which are actually for rent.

Seattle Woman Faces Eviction for Failing to Pay $2 She Owed in Rent

The outstanding rent Keilani Luxmore owed on her Seattle apartment for the month of December wouldn’t buy you a cup of coffee, a gallon of gasoline or even bus fare in this city.

But Luxmore’s failure to pay $2 last month means she is facing eviction from the home she shares with her three young children, in addition to the possible loss of the federal Section 8 voucher that covers most of her rent.

It could also result in a return to a homeless shelter for Luxmore and her children, ages 3 and under.

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