First wave of evictions hits Orleans
By Richard A. Webster
New Orleans City Business
November 7, 2005
On Oct. 29, Jonathan Most received a notice to vacate his
apartment. He was given until Nov. 1 to leave the premises.
“I’m being forced to find a new place and figure
out a way to move all of my stuff out with no notice,”
the 32-year-old Most said.
Most’s Uptown apartment building escaped the wrath of
Hurricane Katrina, he said.
“There was no damage whatsoever — no mold, no holes
in the roof, no blown-out windows, no sewage or water backup.
It wasn’t even looted. It looked like I had never
left.”
When Most moved back into his apartment Oct. 16, he called
his landlord to ask about rent.
“The only reply I got was an eviction notice,” Most
said.
His landlord, Lisa Mellion with Magnolia Properties New
Orleans LLC, based in San Leandro, Calif., said she would not
talk about the case based on the advice of her attorney.
In her eviction letter she expressed a desire to reclaim the
property in order to proceed with renovations begun prior to
Hurricane Katrina.
“I don’t do anything illegally,” she said.
“It was a business decision.”
Growing trend
On Nov. 3, the First City Court for Orleans Parish in Algiers
heard the first of what is expected to be thousands of
eviction claims from the East Bank.
On the eve of the first day of hearings, presiding Judge
Charles Imbornone prepared for the tidal wave.
“I’m losing my mind on my own house and adjusters
right now,” Imbornone said. “As for tomorrow all
I’m doing is saying prayers and hoping I do the right
thing.”
For people like Most and Mellion the “right thing”
depends on what side they are on.
Laura Tuggle, an attorney with Southeast Louisiana Legal
Services, said Louisiana law heavily favors the landlord.
Louisiana is one of only a handful of states that allow
“no-cause” evictions. Landlords can evict
month-to-month tenants with no lease for any reason on five
to 10 days notice.
“Even in a normal world it’s very difficult to do
anything in that time frame,” Tuggle said. “But in
a post-Katrina world it’s downright impossible,
especially for a low-income person. There’s no housing
available and people can’t even find a U-Haul truck or a
storage facility.”
Even if a lease is in place, landlords do not need a specific
reason for eviction, Tuggle said.
“I’m hoping judges may show some greater leniency
in terms of giving people more time to move out,” she
said.
Imbornone said even though Hurricane Katrina created unique
situations he is bound by the law and can’t provide
undue leniency.
Tuggle estimated landlords come out on top more than 90
percent of the time in eviction cases.
Tammy Esponge, director of the Apartment Association of
Greater New Orleans, agreed judges rarely rule in favor of
the tenant in Orleans Parish.
But, she said, landlords are getting a bad rap. The biggest
misconception is that they are throwing people out of their
homes for no reason or out of naked greed.
“Landlords are concerned about properties that have been
damaged by water and mold but they can’t get inside to
clean them because their tenants have abandoned them and are
out of contact,” Esponge said. “They’re not
looking to evict anyone from undamaged properties unless they
didn’t pay the rent or violated the lease. There may be
a few smaller owners doing it but I can say most of our
members are absolutely not.”
According to Most’s lease, 30 days notice is required
for either the landlord or tenant to break it.
Most said he received three days notice even though he paid
September’s rent before evacuating.
He said he tried to pay October’s rent but was rebuffed
by Darrell M. Mellion in an Oct. 6 e-mail.
“We are awaiting an inspection by our insurance company
to ascertain any structural damage to the building (and) are
asking that you not return until the building has been
inspected,” Darrell Mellion wrote. “We are trying
our best to expedite the inspection, however, due to the
magnitude and number of individuals affected by the
catastrophe we are not sure when this will happen. Due to
conditions we are not accepting rent at this time. Thank you
in advance for understanding.”
Most said he suspects Lisa Mellion is kicking him out in
order to raise the rent. Esponge refutes the charge.
“Landlords are not looking to raise rents,” she
said. “Absolutely not. Maybe some smaller owners have
raised rents but not the 40 (percent) to 50 percent increases
they’re quoting on TV. Rents may raise 5 to 10 percent
but that’s over time.”
Tuggle said she has seen many current cases in which tenants
in undamaged properties have been evicted so landlords can
jack up the rents and little can be done about it.
The Louisiana price gouging statute applies only to goods and
services but not residential property.
Louisiana law also allows landlords to recoup rent from
tenants in undamaged properties even for the month of
September when the city was under a mandatory evacuation,
Tuggle said.
“Now would be a good time for the state to look at and
reform our landlord and tenant laws,” Tuggle said.
“If not now than when? One avenue is to limit price
gouging but if you don’t close the back door and place
limits on ‘no-cause’ evictions, landlords will be
free to evict for any reason and raise rents. In legal
proceedings you have the concept of reasonableness but what
was reasonable before is just not reasonable now.”
As for Most, he has little choice but to pack his belongings
and search for a new home unless a judge rules in his favor.
Most said he still has never entertained the notion of
leaving New Orleans.
“I want to stay here and help rebuild,” he said.
“I have friends who have lost a lot more than me and I
have friends I haven’t gotten in touch with yet and I
don’t know if they’re OK. Rule No. 1 I’ve
learned in New Orleans is that if you’re cool with the
city, the city’s cool with you. I don’t wish ill on
anybody but what Lisa’s doing is extremely wrong and
something needs to be done about it.”