Elderly Woman being evicted for no reason!

I need help. My 84 year old mother received an eviction notice effective 8/4/2008. The notice stated for violating her rental agreement by congregating in the Lobby area and eating outside of her unit. First of all, the lobby is a common area with couches and chairs provided by the complex. She has lived in this complex for 14 years and for all 14 years this area has been a place for all tenants to meet and visit with each other. All tenants do meet here but she and one other person are the only ones given this notice. She does not eat anywhere but her apartment. I am at a lost to unstand this and she lives in VA and me in GA so it has been hard to find out any answers. This has my Mother, who is in fragile health and walks with the assistance of a walker, completely tore up. She is worrying herself to death and it is affecting her health. Can anyone give me some assistance with this? I would greatly appreciate it.

Does your mother have a current lease or is she a month to month tenant? If she has no current lease, they need only give her a writtten notice of the appropriate length (normally 30 days) to have her to move out. They don't need to give any reason to have her move. Sorry.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

If she has no current lease, they need only give her a writtten notice of the appropriate length (normally 30 days) to have her to move out. They don't need to give any reason to have her move. Sorry.

This is untrue.

In most states, the landlord has to have a reason for eviction. The reasons mentioned do not amount to material violations of the lease agreement. Contact legal aid.

"This is untrue."
You either don't understand LL-Tenant law or don't understand the true nature of this case.


The woman is NOT being evicted. (Eviction is a court decision following a hearing; this woman has only received a management notice to terminate her agreement.) She is being asked to leave because they are terminating her month to month agreement. They need not list a reason. She is most likely not under a lease after 14 yrs. Only 2 states require a LL to show just cause to terminate a month to month agreement (NJ, NH). The other 48 require no reason to terminate a month to month agreement (also known as a tenant at will agreement). The LL need only give appropriate notice that the agreement will not be renewed for the next month. This amount of notice can range from 7 days (NC) up to 60 days (DE, GA, & CA tenants of 2 yrs or more), but is generally about 30 days.

If a tenant fails to vacate after such a notice is given, he or she can be evicted. The only reason a LL would have to give at that hearing is that the appropriate notice had been served to the tenant and he failed to follow it.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I need help. My 84 year old mother received an eviction notice effective 8/4/2008. The notice stated for violating her rental agreement by congregating in the Lobby area and eating outside of her unit. First of all, the lobby is a common area with couches and chairs provided by the complex. She has lived in this complex for 14 years and for all 14 years this area has been a place for all tenants to meet and visit with each other. All tenants do meet here but she and one other person are the only ones given this notice. She does not eat anywhere but her apartment. I am at a lost to unstand this and she lives in VA and me in GA so it has been hard to find out any answers. This has my Mother, who is in fragile health and walks with the assistance of a walker, completely tore up. She is worrying herself to death and it is affecting her health. Can anyone give me some assistance with this? I would greatly appreciate it.

Contact legal aid and they will be able to help you on this. Since she did nothing wrong there is no reason for them to evict her and not renew her lease. They will do everything in their power to help her. I have used legal aid before when my landlord refused to give me my deposit back. I took the LL to court and got back 3 times the amount.

You other posters don't seem to understand. She is not being evicted. NO court has been involved. The management has merely stated that they will not renew her month to month agreement. Unless the poster lives in NJ or NH, you have no protection when under a month to month agreement. They can simply refuse to renew for NO REASON AT ALL! This is perfectly legal. Legal aide will be unable to help you. You have no option. It doesn't matter if you were a model tenant, paid on time every month, or anything. They merely have to state in writing that they no longer wish to rent to you. You have no other remedy afforded to you but to move out. I feel for the poster too, but there is nothing anyone can do about it. A lease protects you. You have absolutely no protection if you are under a month to month (unless you live in one of the 2 states listed).