For victims of domestic violence, a call for help can lead to eviction

[ccharles000]

CHICAGO -- Kathy Cleaves-Milan called police to report that she was the victim of domestic violence. She got help -- but she also got evicted.

A day after she told police that her live-in boyfriend had brandished a gun and promised to end both of their lives, the managers of her Elmhurst, Ill., apartment complex served her with eviction papers for violating the terms of the lease, citing the criminal activity she had reported to police.

"I was punished for protecting myself and my daughter," Cleaves-Milan, 36, said.

Attorneys for Cleaves-Milan have filed a lawsuit against Aimco, the company that owns and operates Elm Creek Apartments. In the Oct. 1 filing, attorneys with the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law and the law firm of Reed Smith argue Cleaves-Milan's 2007 eviction was a form of sex discrimination, based on Cleaves-Milan's sex and her status as a victim of domestic violence.

A representative of the company said the eviction wasn't solely about the domestic violence but also involved Cleaves-Milan's ability to afford the rent if her boyfriend moved out -- an assertion Cleaves-Milan strongly rejects.

http://dailyme.com/story/2009101500002267/victims-domestic-violence-call-lead-eviction.html

[ccharles000]

1. kick

[theHandpuppet]

2. I've seen this kind of thing happen before, a long time ago

Unfortunately, it's not illegal, so the eviction threat alone can make the abused woman and her kids stay in an abusive relationship.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

3. A horrible situation with no easy solutions

I think that a man brandishing a gun is a threat not only to the woman making the complaint but to other tenants as well. If the apartment management did NOT respond and if the man killed another tenent in the parking lot after going berserk, there would probably be liability on the part of the management company for not responding to an obvious danger. Plus, many leases do contain provisos concerning criminal activity, noise levels, etc.

I don't know if the sex discrimination thing will fly. Men can and do get abused as well as women. Is she saying that if the situation had been reversed and she had been the one threatening with a gun that the management company wouldn't have done anything?

Imagine being the person who lives next door to the crazy guy with the gun.

Not that I don't have great sympathy for the woman - I do. Domestic violance is terrifying period. I once worked with a woman who had a crazy ex and we were all scared to death that he would burst into the workplace one day to wreck mayhem on her and anyone else who happened to be around. She had a restraining order and everyone was instructed to call the police if they saw his car in the parking lot. Nothing ever happened but we were all relieved when she moved out of state to get away from him.

[paulsby]

4. i agree

1) that it's wrong to evict her
2) that it's sex discrimination

yes, women are disproportionately victims of domestic violence (at least aggravated DV and DV resulting in bodily injury), but that doesn't make the eviction sexist.

[csziggy]

5. So if a tenant is the victim of a home invasion, the tenant can be evicted?

Because of the "criminal activity"? Why is this any different?

As the article said, the woman did all the right things and was punished for being the victim of a crime. If the rental company is consistent, they will evict people who have burglaries or any other crime impacting their residence.

[skygazer]

7. The man with the gun is a threat to the other tenants

How is that the fault of the woman?

And I get so sick of the fact that someone always has to say that men get abused too as if there is anything remotely resembling parity in the situation. It's so Fox News - fair and balanced, we have to say that the other side does the same thing or it's just not fair.

Men do get abused by women but the percentage that do compared to the percentage of women that do is infinitesimal. It's a rarity. It almost never happens. Meanwhile, thousands of women every day are beaten or killed by men. There is no comparison. One situation is an unfortunate event that happens once in a great while - the other is a deep, institutional epidemic. THAT is why it's discrimination. Discrimination is not based on individual mistreatment but at the systematic and institutional mistreatment of a group.

One more thing - I hate the term "domestic violence." It's slightly better than "domestic dispute" which is really insulting and sounds as if there is an actual argument going on. But what this should be called is assault and battery.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

9. You're right and I'm wrong.

The man with the gun is the threat and the woman is the victim who then got even more victimized.

I think my personal experience with the situation I cited in my reply clouded my judgment. Even though we all liked the woman we worked with, just being around her made the possibility of something awful happening to the rest of us seem to be greater. No one ever said that to her and we were all very supportive, but I know that most of us felt personally threatened as well by the crazy ex.
As I said, we were all relieved when she relocated.

I think men are abused more than you might think, but they feel a stigma in reporting it.

[gorfle]

6. The bottom line:

You should not be able to be kicked out of your home for being the victim of a crime.

[Soylent Brice]

8. fucked up.

that's just wrong.

[drm604]

10. This discourages the reporting of crime.

Isn't that aiding and abetting, in a way?

[Froward69]

11. I once had a tenant who

called police to report her boyfriend for DV. Turned out EVERYONE in the building reported SHE was the one who 1) started the fights 2) was the one constantly yelling 3) the boyfriend had left (to escape her taunts and insults) before she called.

He was arrested.

she did the same to her next Boyfriend, three weeks later.

I have also had a tenant that refused to call on her abusive boyfriend. (I called for her)

Now I do not know the particulars of the situation. but from the landlord standpoint if she had signed the lease with her Boyfriend to prove they could cover the rent, the fears of management are justified. they should however wait a month to see if she indeed can cover the rent. (seems they are a bit overly pro-active here)
Usually if a tenant is in a truly abusive relationship. they move just as soon as the abuser is in jail. (so they cannot be found and abused later.)
Regardless of economic circumstance.

Now I am not blaming the victim. but really if someone does not want for themselves you cannot force them. Like drugs, alcohol, gambling or abusive relationships. they have to hit rock bottom or decide for themselves to end the negative behavior. (in this case staying in the relationship regardless of how abusive it is.

[niyad]

12. your last paragraph is unclear--are you saying that this individual stayed in an abusive

relationship? because she didn't--she called the police, she had a restraining order. if you were referring to somebody else, it really wasn't clear.

did you read the article at the link?

[niyad]

13. so let's see--in this greatest of all countries in the world, a person who is the victim of domestic

violence is denied health care for a "pre-existing condition" and, as icing on the cake, can get evicted as well.

how can we, as a nation, accept this kind of inhumane insanity? it hurts my heart to see all this.

[AuntPatsy]

14. I am glad this is getting coverage..its reprehensible what that landlord is doing..

[niyad]

15. I just loved the part where they tried to sue her for breaking the lease.

[antigone382]

17. You mean this?

"The kicker for Cleaves-Milan was that this July, she received a call from a collection agency working on behalf of Aimco, seeking nearly $3,800 that the company said Cleaves-Milan owed for the early termination of her lease.

A day after the Chicago Tribune asked about this fee, Aimco officials decided to drop it, Duffy said. "That has now been removed from her record," she said."

[Liquorice]

16. Her poor daughter. The kids in these situations have it the worst. nt