Eviction

After a couple days in Corning, Jean got a text message informing her that she'd been evicted already, two weeks prior, on the first of February.

I can probably reveal more details later, after she has a full assessment of her options, but yes - she did everything right. The landlord knew she was in Buffalo in the hospital, he didn't mail her any notification there, they'd spoken on the phone to confirm some details, and she was mailing her rent checks from the hospital. Apparently he'd sent her "notice" to her apartment door in Syracuse.

He did everything wrong.

He also threw out all of her belongings.  Which, from what we read about eviction law immediately following the news, was also  the wrong thing to do. It should have gone into storage.

Jean was stunned by everything that had happened. Thankfully she wasn't alone, and our laptop screens were quickly filled with tabs and tabs of State and City eviction law, as well as Craigslist for looking for apartments available immediately.

I also asked Sarah, via facebook, to ask around and see if she knew anyone who needed a roommate.

I have such trouble imagining the sense of helplessness that Jean must have felt in learning what became of her home and belongings. Her own description of the event goes something like "my whole life is in my truck."