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Posted by James Shoo on August 22, 2000 at 11:56:30:

In Reply to: Protesting against bad landlords- Shaming them posted by Bryan on August 21, 2000 at 22:23:32:

If there are code violations, it seems the thing to do would be to protest outside the city attorney's office or building department in order to get the laws and building code enforced.

As for drugs, I suggest you study eviction law. A landlord can't just say "I think the guy in apartment 102 is a drug dealer. I'm going to call the sheriff and he'll be out this afternoon." To evict someone for drug use, the landlord would have to go to court and PROVE the tenant was dealing drugs. Landlords don't have the training and legal tools to investigate drugs which police and state's attorneys do (ability to issue warrants, detectives, etc.), and that's not really the landlord's job. If the landlord made a drug accusation which he couldn't prove he could be sued for libel and slander. Theoretically a landlord could refuse to renew the lease of a suspected drug dealer, but if the tenant were a member of a protected class the landlord could face a discrimination lawsuit and wouldn't dare bring up drug dealing unless he had conclusive proof.

Again, if the drug laws are not being enforced, the district attorney's or police offices would seem to be the places to protest outside of.

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Comments:
: If there are code violations, it seems the thing to do would be to protest outside the city attorney's office or building department in order to get the laws and building code enforced.

: As for drugs, I suggest you study eviction law.  A landlord can't just say "I think the guy in apartment 102 is a drug dealer.  I'm going to call the sheriff and he'll be out this afternoon."  To evict someone for drug use, the landlord would have to go to court and PROVE the tenant was dealing drugs.  Landlords don't have the training and legal tools to investigate drugs which police and state's attorneys do (ability to issue warrants, detectives, etc.), and that's not really the landlord's job.  If the landlord made a drug accusation which he couldn't prove he could be sued for libel and slander.  Theoretically a landlord could refuse to renew the lease of a suspected drug dealer, but if the tenant were a member of a protected class the landlord could face a discrimination lawsuit and wouldn't dare bring up drug dealing unless he had conclusive proof.

: Again, if the drug laws are not being enforced, the district attorney's or police offices would seem to be the places to protest outside of.



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