Housing issues / eviction

Generally, although I cannot speak to STATE law, a person can be evicted for any violation of the lease. So, if for example, in many states, the standard lease may prohibit causing a “nuisance” and if the landlord can prove that the perpetrator of domestic violence has done this by his/her actions, perhaps it could be a ground for eviction. Or if the lease says something about keeping the rental property in good repair and the perpetrator of abuse damaged the property in an abusive incident, perhaps the landlord can evict based on this. Also, there may be specific other laws in your state that may allow for a landlord to evict someone for various other reasons that aren’t specifically included in the lease.

Since we don’t have specific information on this on our website, I did a bit of research to see what I can find. One good resource where you may want to reach out to is the National Housing Law Project, which addresses domestic violence and housing issues. See here: www.nhlp.org In one of their publications that I was reading (geared to California advocates), they mentioned the federal Violence Against Women’s Act section that specifically allows a landlord who is part of one of the federal housing programs to bifurcate (separate out) a lease in order to evict an abuser and keep the victim on the lease. They referred to this section of the law:

“(B) Bifurcation
(i) In general Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a public housing agency or owner or manager of housing assisted under a covered housing program may bifurcate a lease for the housing in order to evict, remove, or terminate assistance to any individual who is a tenant or lawful occupant of the housing and who engages in criminal activity directly relating to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking against an affiliated individual or other individual, without evicting, removing, terminating assistance to, or otherwise penalizing a victim of such criminal activity who is also a tenant or lawful occupant of the housing.”

See here for more of the law: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/14043e-11

However, this law applies to the types of housing providers listed previously in that law - see here:
(3) Covered housing program
The term “covered housing program” means—
(A) the program under section 1701q of title 12;
(B) the program under section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013);
(C) the program under subtitle D of title VIII of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12901 et seq.);
(D) the program under subtitle A of title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360 et seq.);
(E) the program under subtitle A of title II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12741 et seq.);
(F) the program under paragraph (3) of section 1715l (d) of title 12 that bears interest at a rate determined under the proviso under paragraph (5) of such section 1715l(d);
(G) the program under section 1715z–1 of title 12;
(H) the programs under sections 1437d and 1437f of this title;
(I) rural housing assistance provided under sections 1484, 1485, 1486, 1490m, and 1490p–2 of this title; and
(J) the low income housing tax credit program under section 42 of title 26.

In sum, INSERT PERSON’S NAME, you may want to reach out to a lawyer in your county who has experience with landlord/tenant matters to get some advice on how you can legally go about evicting this person based on the laws that would apply to you in STATE. I cannot tell you specifically what the laws would allow you to do. Here is a link for lawyers: LINK

Also, I don’t know if you have spoken with the victim but here are some things that may help her to stay safe if you are in a position to pass them along to her. Here are referrals for her to local domestic violence programs:LINK and safety planning information: https://www.womenslaw.org/about-abuse/safety-tips as well as information on how to get a protection order from the court: LINK