Call Your Local Sheriff

A friend of mine was upset. His son's family had just received an eviction notice from their landlord. They'd spent most of yesterday looking for a new place to live. Today I heard the additional information that they had to be out by noon tomorrow!

I knew a few things about them. The apartment they lived in was in Smalltown, Minnesota, in an old house that had been part funeral parlor. It was now three separate apartments, and the people renting the section that was the mortuary swore that it was haunted. Doors unlocked themselves, items moved, fuzzy things moved past one's vision. The family seemed both repelled and delighted by these events. At least, it wasn't their space that was haunted, if I recall the story right. Or maybe it just wasn't as bothersome as what was happening next door.

I also heard hazy details about the landlord not fulfilling his obligations, and other conflicts. One of those was the dog.

One can now get companion animals by doctor's orders not only for guide services, or warning of seizures, but to help treat anxiety or depression. By law, such animals cannot be prevented from living with the person needing such services, even if the rental was originally a "no pets" unit. One member of this family qualified for such an animal, and she was living with them. I'm told the landlord wasn't happy, in principal, since no mention was made of any problems like property damage or failure to clean up after the dog.

Whatever the primary cause, the family received a letter giving them less than 2 days to be evicted. I knew that didn't sound right, so I told my friend to call the local sheriff and find out if that was legal. He hung up right away to find out.

Later, I heard that not only was the 2-day notice illegal, as I thought, but that the landlord hadn't even been to court yet, a necessary first step. If he won his case, it would still be 15 to 30 days before they'd have to move, depending on cause. Further, the sheriff took it upon himself to call the landlord and set him straight on a few things. The landlord backed off rather quickly, suddenly stating the letter was just a friendly heads-up kind of a thing, a "courtesy" for his tenants.

Yeah, right. And I've got a bridge to sell.

At any rate, while they may still have to move, there will now be plenty of time to line up a new place, pack, and make all the other arrangements needed. Like, perhaps, finding a better landlord.