Free Republic

New York State housing advocates say they are furious about the so-called “good cause eviction bill” in the new state budget. It grants tenant protections to people in New York City but all other municipalities will need to opt in. It also requires renters to know their landlord’s portfolio to determine eligibility for “good cause” eviction protections and the information can be hard to find. Ritti Singh, communications organizer for the group Housing Justice for All, said previous iterations would have balanced tenant and landlord interests. “What it required landlords to do was to show they had a valid cause...

(Colorado Newsline) Colorado landlords will now need a specific reason to evict or not offer a lease renewal to a tenant under a new law signed by Democratic Governor Jared Polis on Friday. It is a victory for tenants-rights organizers and progressive legislators who seek to include renters in the conversation about how to address the state’s housing and affordability issues. Colorado is the sixth state to enact such a policy. “Everybody here wants to prevent unnecessary evictions and save families money. And House Bill 1098 does these things while placing no financial burdens on landlords. This is the right...

A crafty squatter bilked his landlord of at least $72,000 in rent for his Lower East Side apartment — then made tens of thousands in profit by subletting the unit, the owner charges. For three years, computer programmer Thor Boucher hasn’t paid a cent of his bargain-rate $2,000-a-month, two-bedroom, one-bathroom Essex Street pad, claiming he didn’t have to because the building was noisy and shook, according to landlord Ed Yau and Manhattan Civil Court documents. The alleged freeloader had no qualms renting the space out, though, charging as much as $1950 per room monthly since November 2021 on platforms including...

Housing advocates say easy public access to landlord-tenant complaints hamstrings renter efforts to find new housing, but pulling records from public view also raises concerns. The Strip District woman would feel a lot more confident about apartment hunting if her tenant history was not marked by three recent court complaints filed against her by her current landlord. “Honestly, it makes me feel like a criminal,” she said. The tenant, whose name is being withheld for privacy reasons, faced a health crisis last year and an ongoing disability that slashed her income, even prompting a GoFundMe plea for help with medical...

Peeling lead paint. Roach infestations. Blinking electricity. Mold. These are just some of the dangerous conditions that Daniel Ohebshalomthe Big Apple’s “worst landlord,” has allegedly ignored in two of his Washington Heights apartment buildings, city housing officials said Monday. The nearly 700 open violations between the buildings at 705 and 709 170th Street earned Ohebshalom an open arrest warrant, a two-month vacation at Rikers Island and fines of more than $3 million, the officials said. “The worst landlord in New York City is Daniel Ohebshalom,” Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development...

(KRON) — With the new year comes new changes involving housing in California. Governor Gavin Newsom signed several bills into law this year that will go into effect starting Jan. 1, 2024. Some bring changes to the workplace, others to the state’s official symbols. Here are five impacting housing that you’ll want to be aware of: 1. Security deposits Tenants will no longer have to fork over several month’s rent as a security deposit. A new bill caps the amount a landlord can charge to one month’s rent. 2. Evictions based on alleged criminal activity Tenants will not be able...

A Queens landlord was killed by her teen tenant during a fight that erupted this week when he failed to make good on rent, authorities said Thursday. Davi Vidal, 19, lashed out at Leo Zoraida, 55, around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday inside their building on 96th Street near Northern Boulevard in East Elmhurst, cops said. Vidal hadn’t been paying rent, sparking the deadly altercation with Zoraida. Cops say the landlord was found unconscious and unresponsive with scratches on her face inside an apartment.

An Oregon man’s dogged search for the truth has left him nearly $1.4 million richer. Joshua Smith was forlorn when his feline sidekick, Frank, mysteriously disappeared. But Smith sported a Cheshire cat smile this week after a Multnomah County Circuit Court jury deliberated less than two hours before awarding him $1.375 million for the loss of his 3-year-old tabby, oregonlive.com reported. Smith had previously sued, claiming his landlord had “catnapped” the furball. “The jury’s message should be loud and clear to landlords,” said purr-suasive attorney Michael Fuller, who won the case. “You need to respect the rights of tenants, especially...

The city of Rochester has asked a state judge to order an out-of-town real estate investor to pay more than $131 million for code violations at derelict properties he owns. The request is by far the largest judgment sought since the city began more aggressively pursuing neglectful landlords in court a year ago. Citations for rodent infestations, holes in walls, smashed windows, and dilapidated roofs are among the more than 470 violations that have accumulated at 15 single-family homes and apartment houses owned by Meyer Hirschhorn, of Rockland County. Hirschhorn, who has real estate holdings across New York and New...

A D.C. landlord who tells the News4 I-Team he hasn’t been paid rent in three years will have to wait at least another four months to get a trial on evicting the tenants. John Jones owns a single two-bedroom unit in Southeast D.C. The I-Team first met him when he complained he was missing $14,000 from a COVID-era rent relief program. City documents show a check was sent in 2021 to the tenants, and that check was cashed — but the tenants never sent the money to Jones. He says they hadn’t paid rent for a few months before, and...

California lawmakers have voted to strengthen eviction protections for renters, closing an existing loophole allowing landlords to circumvent the state's rent cap. SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The California Legislature voted Thursday to bolster eviction protections for renters and close a loophole in an existing law that has allowed landlords to circumvent the state’s rent cap. The eviction reform bill was among hundreds approved before the end of a late legislative session, including giving striking workers unemployment benefits and reforms to the state’s mental health system. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has until Oct. 14 to act on the bills by signing them...

MONROE – A federal lawsuit filed by a group of landlords, including Pamela Lee, who own rental properties, says that a Monroe town law passed earlier this year is discriminatory against landlords and violates the federal Fair Housing Act. The lawsuit also alleges that families with more than two people cannot reside in a one-bedroom rental unit. The lawsuit, filed by six LLCs that own rental properties and Pamela Lee, a member of all of the LLCs and owner of properties in Monroe personally, asserts that the town is attempting to prohibit them from enjoying their constitutional right by depriving...

A landlord in Canada brutally killed a young engaged couple who lived in his building over an apparent housing dispute Saturday before he was shot dead by police. The 57-year-old fatally shot tenants Carissa MacDonald and Aaron Stone outside a home in Stoney Creek, Ontario, on Saturday evening, Hamilton police said. Both MacDonald, 27, and Stone, 28, were already dead when officers reached the property at 322 Jones Road around 5:40 p.m., the officials said. The couple was “fleeing the residence” when they were shot, Hamilton Detective Sgt. Steve Berezuik told reporters Sunday morning, according to CBC News. “They are...

A New York State Assembly bill that would have banned landlords from reporting late rent payments to credit agencies was withdrawn this week, exposing potential difficulties for Democrats in achieving housing reform before the legislative session ends on June 8. The bill, proposed by Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, sought to protect tenants from credit score damage and potential issues securing future leases due to delayed rent payments. Rosenthal asserts that the bill would have leveled the playing field for renters, as landlords can still pursue fines or evictions for late payments. However, the proposal was deemed too open-ended by some Democratic...

The state is considering a right-to-counsel bill that would set up a state “Office of Civil Representation” to provide attorneys to tenants in eviction cases. The office could also contract organizations to represent people in court. The bill requires the provision of information on tenants’ rights, and non-compliance with the law could result in vacating eviction warrants. Legislators have pushed for policies like “Good Cause Eviction” to limit filings that inundate courts and shelter systems by forcing people from their homes. The cost of implementing the right-to-counsel bill is estimated at $500 million, with proponents stating that it would save...

The Biden administration has become notorious for pushing clearly unconstitutional bureaucratic rules in hopes of causing maximum damage before the court system has time to work.The White House’s “eviction moratorium” comes to mind. Thousands upon thousands of landlords were harmed by a federal power grab barring evictions of long-delinquent renters. Eventually, the Supreme Court stepped in to shut Biden down, but while the moratorium went away, many landlords were left financially ruined in the process.Was there even an apology given to landlords who watched lifelong investments be destroyed by non-paying renters that squatted for years on end in some states?...

ORANGE CITY, Fla. — An Orange City man is accused of locking three tenants inside the garage apartment they live in and threatening to shoot them if they came out. Sixty-six-year-old Lawrence Cohen is charged with three counts of false imprisonment and in addition to that, resisting arrest. Deputies say they had to use a taser on Cohen after breaking down the door to get in. A judge found probable cause and set bond at $16,000. Deputies say Cohen got into a confrontation with three tenants who were living in Cohen's garage apartment attached to his main home on Sparkman...

It took three years for New York City landlords to remove squatter tenants who refused to leave and refused to allow them into the property. The squatters extensively damaged the property but were finally removed by the police. Unfortunately, building inspectors immediately began issuing citations following the eviction totaling $5,000.

A federal judge in California denied a request by Oakland landlords to stop the city eviction moratorium. One of the reasons was because the moratorium is supposedly temporary, but after nearly 3 years it’s hard to believe that to be the case.

VALLEJO, Calif. — Two people were arrested on suspicion of murder in the death of a fellow squatter who was shot and killed by a California property owner, authorities said. The property owner was impaled by a sword during the confrontation. A witness told the newspaper that the property owner, identified as Curt Lind, 80, came to his mobile home covered in blood. “He came banging on my door with a sword sticking through him,” Patrick McMillan, a tenant who lives in a mobile home on the property, told the Chronicle. McMillan told the newspaper that Lind was his landlord...