Thursday, June 30, 2011

Predatory Landlords and Their Victims

By now most of us have heard about predatory mortgage lenders, however are you familiar with the term predatory landlords? Well, as of recent I was on a payment plan with my landlord; a verbal agreement between both parties. Yes, my current rent was up-to-date and I had made substantial payments on my arrears while making substantial concessions so my landlord was getting paid and my family retained our apartment; concessions that included no car, no telephone at all, no cable, no Internet, and I had even sacrificed my beloved laptop to a local pawn shop. My routine of food shopping had also been dramatically altered by my frequent visits to local food pantries instead of local grocery stores. I believed my family's sacrifices were beneficial instead of in vain as long as my landlord was receiving his due money that was agreed upon. However, one day I received an unexpected 48 Hour Notice that had been slipped under my door; my shock was compounded by the fact that I not only had just recently chit chatted with the owner of the building, but there was no legal forethought such as an Execution, any other type of Notice to Quit, or even the courtesy from my landlord in anyway of being made aware that my family was on the road to homelessness.

Predatory landlords do exist and some of their main targets are:
  • Low-income 
  • Uneducated 
  • Previous or Current criminal/civil issues
  • New immigrants
  • Students and Young Adults
  • Unsophisticated renters
  • Homeless
  • Previous housing issues
  • Disabled physically/mentally
Playing unfair is the game that the landlord will evoke upon vulnerable tenants. And this situation does not just happen to renters in apartments it also occurs within the rooming houses where the person is not aware that they too have rights, rights that are more concrete especially if they had rented a room at the same location for longer than 3 consecutive months. In Massachusetts you then become a "Tenant at Will" and the eviction process must be followed by the owner of the rooming house. I personally had been in a local rooming house and was illegally locked out since I was awaiting a retro-active unemployment check and at the time I was only 1 week behind. I proceeded to file a police report for my protection, went to the Housing Court and received permission to re-enter the premises and I was able to retain my room until I moved out. And what certainly helped me the most is that not only was the owner known to the community as being "shady," I had nothing "shady" to prevent me from keeping my rights as a tenant either personally or financially.

Most landlords do run a legitimate and fair business through their rental units or are home-owners that need that extra income. I definitely know too that some tenants do exist that take advantage and not only do not care about their neighbors, the property, the rent, or even themselves; certain renters do give others a bad name. Yet, too many potential renters and current renters are being preyed upon as not only the economy gets worse, but as the desperation for housing continues to rise. It is this desperation that almost made me homeless not believing the 48 Hour Notice to be forcibly moved was an effective and legal order. I am thankful to the mediators at the NorthEast Housing Court and especially to the lawyer I originally only called with one quick question that came immediately to my defense handling my day in court Pro Bono. 

I can still recall being a very little girl growing up by the Collins Cove in Salem, MA. My mother was raising 6 children in a small 2 bedroom apartment working hard and doing it all basically on her own. Our landlord cared about us as a family since he knew my mother as a long-time tenant and knowing she tried was of upmost importance to him. He allowed my mom to make payments and appreciated her honesty as well as her perserverance. It is this same landlord that also would occasionally give my father odd jobs to assist with the rent costs since my dad was usually unemployed. I can even picture my father as a younger man on the scaffolding of a home near Derby's Wharf painting alongside with the landlord and his crew on a hot summer day. I, as a child, believed back then that those that did everything right and those that did the best they could would always have security; security not only for themselves, but for their families. Well, not only have times changed from long ago, unfortunately so haven't people changed from long ago. My advice, never believe things are stagnant because in this world you never know what each day may bring. 
















6 comments:

  1. Sarah Saez you're doing an amazing job locally! I would love to be a traveling activist. Dreams come true. But Salem needs you =) I

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  2. Hi Tammy -- Thanks for writing. I like the predatory landlord piece.
    I'd like to use later this month, if that's all right with you.
    -- Tom

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  3. GASworks (a Guild of Artistic Sorts)
    Keepin' in real! Check out this local blogger & long time Salem resident who advocates for those without a voice here in Salem. Keep talkin' Tammy!

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  4. Sarah Saez I read this one a little bit back. Loved it! =) I'm a fan of your blog.

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  5. We are a children's charity. see http://www.thursdayschild.org/html/brochure.htm. We do not operate on money. We operate on breaths of air. This is the fourth time we are being forced to move by greedy landlords who want to make money on their properties at our expense, each time more harrowing and incredible than the last. After being evicted from the last place because our landlord walked away from his mortgage, we were very careful to get assurances that the next place would be long term. So we rented from a Catholic High School (Chaminade College Preparatory School) in West Hills (L.A.) We were assured that we would be able to rent for the next decade at least but after just two years we are being told to get out. This move will cost about $20,000 (we have 50,000 books we sell on Amazon to pay for our free services) and several hernias. I have been seriously depressed over this. Of all the people to pull such a heartless, greedy stunt, two weeks before Christmas, leave it to a "religious" institution. This will probably drive us out of business after nearly 30 years.

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