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 1 Renters' Rights — Basic Story

Some people in apartment complexes in California won an important court case. The renters thought they might
have to move. The person who owns their buildings was going to sell them. The renters were worried that
someone would buy the buildings and raise the rent. That would be terrible for the renters. The people who live
in the buildings do not make much money. They are on fixed incomes. They all went to court to try to stop the
sales.
Some community groups help people find apartments that have a low rent payment. A new law says that if an
owner wants to sell a building, he has to notify these groups first so that they can try to buy them if they want to.
That way, the people who reside there will be able to stay in their homes. The rent will not be too expensive for
them to pay.
This helped the renters because the judge decided that the owner of the buildings did not tell the community
groups that he wanted to sell his buildings. The judge blocked the sale of the buildings. Now the owner has to
notify the groups before he can sell his buildings. The renters and their neighbors are very happy about this
decision. They hope that the community groups will purchase the buildings so that the residents can remain in
their homes.

 2 Renters' Rights — Full Story

Tenants in four apartment complexes are claiming victory in a fight for their homes. A judge has told the owner
he cannot sell his property, even though there's a buyer already lined up.
Federal law says owners of low income property must give community organizations dealing with low income
housing an opportunity to buy the property. The purpose is to keep rent affordable. The judge in the case of the
four apartments decided the owner didn't make the appropriate notifications.
The apartments are in Rancho Cordova, Fair Oaks and Carmichael. If the sale had gone through, the new owner
could have switched to a new subsidy program, then raised the rent beyond what the new program would cover.
Tenants would be stuck trying to pay the difference out of their fixed monthly income.
It's now up to the property owner to make the proper notification to local nonprofit agencies. The tenants can
only hope that one of the agencies will realize the need for affordable housing, buy the properties and keep the
current subsidy programs in place.

 3 community

an area where a group of people live and work

 4 complex

a building with many connected parts

 5 court

a place where legal cases are heard

 6 decision

the act or result of making up one's mind

 7 fixed

something steady that does not change

 8 judge

a person trained to hear and decide court cases

 9 notify

to tell about; give notice of

 10 purchase

to buy something for a price

 11 remain

to stay in the same place

 12 reside

to live in a place

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