|
Protect Victims Of Violence From Homelessness
You can take action on this alert by reading the information below and following the
directions at the bottom.
For women and children, domestic violence is one of the leading causes of homelessness in this country.
Victims of violence who live in rental housing are particularly vulnerable to homelessness because they are often threatened with eviction after an incident of violence.
For example, Kathy Cleaves Milan was a victim of domestic violence who was evicted after her abuser tried to kill her in their home. The eviction, which was eventually overturned in court, happened and though the victim had called the police, previously had abuser committed to a hospital for mental illness, obtained an order of protection against the abuser, and sought to remove abuser from the lease.
The law is also not clear that a property owner can lawfully seek to evict only the perpetrator of the violence.
House Bill 5523 would create a state law to protect victims of violence from unlawful evictions due to incidents of violence against them or because of their status as a victim of violence. Twenty other states – including Indiana, Colorado, Arkansas, Delaware, Texas, and Virginia - have laws currently protecting victims of violence from evictions based upon incidents of violence and/or their status as a victim of violence.
The federal 2005 Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) also prohibits status and incident-related evictions of victims of violence who live in federally-supported low-income housing.
The proposed bill has the following provisions:
• Provides an affirmative defense to an eviction if it is SOLELY based upon the victim’s status or SOLELY due to actual or threatened incidents of violence.
• The victim must provide proof of the violence from a qualified third party.
• The landlord can pursue an eviction against the tenant committing the violence.
• The landlord can still evict if keeping the tenant will pose and actual and imminent threat to other tenants, the landlord, or property management.
Your message will be sent to each of the following targets:
Your State Representative
A sample message appears below, which you may edit before sending.
Suppport HB 5523 to Protect Victims Of Violence From Homelessness
Dear Representative,
Please support House Bill 5523, which would create a state law to protect victims of violence from unlawful evictions due to incidents of violence against them or because of their status as a victim of violence.
Victims of violence who live in rental housing are particularly vulnerable to homelessness because they are often threatened with eviction after an incident of violence.
Twenty other states – including Indiana, Colorado, Arkansas, Delaware, Texas, and Virginia - have laws currently protecting victims of violence from evictions based upon incidents of violence and/or their status as a victim of violence.
Sincerely, Your name and address here
|
This Action Alert Campaign is Closed.
|
