Family Landlords Raise the Rent to Force One Sister Out
“The original appliances were broken when I moved in,” I said. “You told me if I wanted working ones, I had to buy them myself. So I did. They belong to me.”
Helen did not look at the paper. She tapped her ring against her phone screen again, faster this time.
“You had no right to remove them without permission,” Helen said, her voice dropping into a sharp, declarative command. “This is Vanessa’s apartment. You are destroying her home.”
“It was my home,” I said. “And I paid nine hundred dollars a month to keep it that way until you decided to double it.”
“You are being selfish,” Vanessa piped up from the doorway, her voice wavering as she leaned against the bare doorframe. “Where am I supposed to keep my groceries, Lauren? On the floor?”
“That is your concern now,” I said.
Helen took a step closer to me, her eyes narrowing to thin slits.
“We will see what the police have to say about this,” Helen said. “You cannot just strip a rental and walk away. I am calling Arthur. We are going to settle this at the house right now.”
