Although federal law (the CARES Act) requires affordable housing landlords to give their tenants a 30-day notice to vacate, they often ignore the law and evict tenants a month early. The CARES Act defense still frequently works when attorneys spot the issue, but it is an extremely unintuitive law for pro se tenants. Determining CARES Act coverage has become more and more difficult as the various databases for affordable housing erode.
We can shift our eviction advocacy from defense to offense by using the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The DTPA makes it illegal to misrepresent rights in contracts; common leases used by affordable housing landlords misrepresent the landlord's right to evict, contradicting federal law. This session will discuss legal background, strategic advocacy angles, and seeking creative equitable remedies through the DTPA.
The session will also address using the same DTPA theories to attack other illegal eviction tactics, unauthorized fees, and illegal lease provisions outside of the eviction process.
