My aunt arrived home today after 3 weeks in the hospital to have her landlord (owner) tell her that the property is being condemned and she has until Friday (2 days) to get out. She is an older woman and terrified by the prospect.
The jurisdiction is Maryville, Blount County TN.
Does anyone have any specific knowledge on how this process would proceed? I’ve seen stuff online regarding eviction, but not complicated by property condemnation.
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Since this potentially involves real-world legal issues, I’m going to move this to IMHO. Any factual information regarding eviction and condemned property is of course still welcome.
Moving thread from GQ to IMHO.
Sounds bogus …
She should immediately contact any tenant’s advocacy group in her area … they can be quite a bit of help in explaining the law to her and what her rights are (and much much cheaper than a lawyer) … generally speaking, a tenant is afforded 30 days to move out, some jurisdictions even longer … perhaps the condemnation thing is extraneous to the eviction, except that the landlord may have had to notify her well beforehand …
Is the building completely unsafe? … why is it being condemned? … she is going to move, no question about that, but the law will allow her some time to find another place …
2 days to get out is really scary even if you aren’t an older woman. But if the building was condemned for being unsafe, for any of many different reasons, it’s an emergency. If it’s being condemned for being an eyesore or for eminent domain she may have some recourse. Contacting a renter’s rights group should be the first step. That’s what they’re there for.
She should talk with a competent real estate lawyer in Tennessee. If there is something like a tenant advocacy office in your municipality, call them now. If she is low income she could also check with the local legal aid society to see if low cost legal assistance is available.
You should confirm with local authorities that the condemnation is real. Landlords have been known to lie about condemnation to kick a tenant out without grounds or process for eviction.
Generally, condemnation of the whole property she rents terminates any lease or rental agreement that she has. Once it is condemned, she won’t have any more right to live there. She needs to plan to move as soon as she can given the short time frame.
Generally, tenants of wholly condemned properties don’t owe any rent for the period after the condemnation. However, the condemnation doesn’t automatically forgive debts that the tenant may have owed to the landlord for the period before the condemnation (like overdue rent, late fees, or utilities). Landlords can sometimes owe their tenants money due to the condemnation. For example, generally tenants can get a refund of prepaid rent that they did not get to use, refunds of security deposits, and sometimes even rent credits for time that they occupied the property when it was unlivable but had not been declared condemned. Tenants can also sometimes collect damages caused by the early termination of the lease. These damages might include things like a payment to offset the higher cost of a comparable replacement apartment or moving costs.
Good luck.