Housing issues / eviction

In general, if a person has a long-term lease (usually for 1 year or 2 years), a person can be evicted from his/her apartment for various reasons such as not paying rent, violating the terms of the lease, or causing a “nuisance.” There has been some attention lately in various states about the fact that victims of domestic violence are being accused of causing a nuisance due to calling 911 to the home when being abused, or due to actions of the abuser that the victim has no control over. Some states are passing laws saying that victims cannot be evicted based on these reasons and in other states, there are lawsuits being filed saying that this sort of eviction unfairly penalizes the victim and basically discriminates against victims of abuse. I tried to do a bit of research to see if I could find anything about nuisance protections in STATE and I came across this article on the Texas ACLU website [YOU CAN KEEP THIS LINK TO THE TEXAS ACLU BUT ALSO DO RESEARCH FOR ‘NUISANCE ORDINANCE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTIMS’ IN HER STATE TO SEE IF YOU FIND ANYTHING ELSE SPECIFIC TO HER STATE.] Although the case they describe took place in Pennsylvania, at the bottom, it says: “The ACLU wants to hear from anyone who has been affected by these ordinances, including landlords, tenants, fair housing and domestic violence advocates. If you have a story to share, please fill out our survey.” The survey doesn’t say that it is only limited to residents Texas so it appears that they may be collecting evidence from victims in any state. Perhaps you may want to fill out the survey or contact the Texas ACLU to see if there may be any help that their office or another ACLU office can provide to you.

Also, here is a link for free legal services in STATE [HYPERLINK] in case you want to consult with an attorney who specializes in landlord/tenant matters. Hopefully an attorney who is knowledgeable about this area of law can let you know if any of your legal rights have been violated and what you can do about it.

If a person does not have a lease, then often a monthly tenancy can be created if the person pays rent monthly and the tenancy can be terminated by the landlord with a month’s notice. In other words, a landlord doesn’t necessarily have to “evict” someone for violating a lease. The landlord may just choose to terminate the monthly tenancy at the end of the month for any non-discriminatory reason or for no reason at all. I cannot say whether these general rules apply to STATE because I do not know STATE housing laws so again, talking to a lawyer is best.