The package also expands “good cause” protections to all tenants, regardless of the term of their lease. Currently, the law only applies to renters who have leases that are month-to-month and leases that run for less than a year. For these tenants, landlords must provide written notice stating why they want to terminate or not renew their lease.
Advocates say the rare exemption has provided cover for unscrupulous landlords to use this form of eviction to retaliate against tenants with longer leases, because they aren’t required to justify their decisions or even give renters advance notice.
In Ashby’s case, RAM did not provide her with a reason for not renewing her lease but the company’s motivation would soon come to light.
“This is a rare case where the retaliation is explicit and it’s out there in the open,” said Madison Gray, Ashby’s attorney.
Fallout from a text message
During a hearing in January, Gray pointed to an email thread from September as evidence that RAM had retaliated against her client. In the thread, the owners of Alden Park are told Ashby’s “non-renewal will be sent in the coming weeks.”
“Thanks, Jake. We should focus on the 2-3 ringleaders,” Chaim Kiffel, president of L3C Capital Partners, tells attorney Jacob Segal within the message.
The following day, a letter was slipped under Ashby’s door stating that her lease would not be renewed. At the time, she was up to date on her rent, which remains the case now.
Ashby landed on her landlord’s radar after a security guard at Alden Park raised concerns about a message she had posted in a group chat for tenants. The security guard, who also lived at Alden Park, testified that he took issue with Ashby posting a public link with the address of one of the owners’ homes.
That prompted the security guard to reach out to property manager Theodore Berry.
Berry, who also lives at Alden Park, said he suggested the non-renewal in response to Ashby’s message, which was deemed a violation of her lease agreement.
“We felt it raised a harm to the client, which we didn’t feel was appropriate,” Berry said during a second hearing in April.
Ann Schildhammer, attorney for Alden Park, argued the message constituted a “nuisance” under the law, enabling her client to not renew Ashby’s lease despite the open code violations.
Schildhammer said Ashby posted the personal address of an owner to “incite the community and instill fear.” Ashby testified that it was posted to demonstrate the disparity in living conditions between ownership and Alden Park tenants.
The fair housing commission said Ashby’s message “served as a convenient excuse” for RAM to terminate her lease.