Family Landlords Raise the Rent to Force One Sister Out
I slid the stack of yellowed paper across the dark wood toward him. He did not touch them, but his eyes scanned the printed numbers.
“And there is the matter of the utility bills,” I said, pulling a second document from the bottom of the folder.
Helen’s hand twitched. She picked up her phone, then set it down again.
“The utility company called me three days ago,” I said, looking directly at my mother. “They wanted to know why I was requesting a transition of the gas and electric accounts to Vanessa’s name. I told them I had not made any such request.”
“It had to be done,” Helen said quickly. “The apartment is Vanessa’s now. The bills must be in her name.”
“Then you should have asked her to sign the forms,” I said. “But you did not. You signed my name on the transition document to authorize the change before my lease was even over.”
I slid a photocopy of the utility transition form across the mahogany table.
