Love Thy Neighbor: What would you do?

I have a real dilemma here, in my apartment building.  My next door neighbor Lonnie, who has lived beside me for 6 1/2 years, is moving out August 31.

Is it his choice?  No.  A month or two ago, Steiner Realty (our landlord) threw down the gauntlet and informed Lonnie they wouldn’t be renewing his lease, which expires August 31. 

Do I want him to go?  No.  Lonnie is quiet, keeps to himself, goes to bed early, gets up and leaves at 5am everyday.  He’s a 40 year old black male, a custodian at Pitt University.  I’m lucky to have him as my “next door”, I know several tenants here who are miserable because of noisy or bothersome next-doors (the other side of their livingroom wall).  

I admit I’m thinking of myself here; God knows who could move in there next.  Ten years ago, my last apartment in the city, when my friend & next door Rich bought a townhome and moved out, a gay couple moved in and made life a living hell for a year until they were finally told to leave.  I blogged about it enough and am surprised I didn’t murder the pair.  (You think I’m kidding, don’t you…)

Anyway, Lonnie says Steiner didn’t give him a reason why, but I’m guessing I know.  For one, he doesn’t have his rent “auto-paid” from a bank account like the rest of us.  He doesn’t HAVE a bank account, so he puts an envelope filled with cash in the Steiner business box on the first floor every month. 

Sometimes he’s late with his rent and is fined $50.00 for it, but fights it half the time.  Also, he somehow wound up with bedbugs a couple times.  Steiner had to hire special exterminators to go after those terrible critters in his unit, at premium expense.  (I think it was around $860.00 for 3-4 visits.)

They tried to bill Lonnie for half of it, but he refused and said that was part of his rent.  (It’s difficult to reason with Lonnie, his thinking can be a bit off-kilter; he’s not quite a special needs person, but close.  Like one of those head injury cases.)

Here’s the thing:  Lonnie WANTS to move.  He’s talked about it since the day I met him, his one bedroom apartment wasn’t big enough, he wanted two.  He can’t AFFORD a two bedroom, at least in our neighborhood, but he still wants one nonetheless.

At the same time, he lives paycheck to paycheck and has no real savings.  Does he not get that his next landlord is going to expect first & last month’s rent, and a hefty security deposit?  He’s close to his mom (who lives in Georgia), maybe she would help with that.

But it’s already August 10 and he’s only seen ONE apartment.  He says he passed on it as it was on the third floor and the building had no elevator.  (At the same time, he told me he refuses to live on the ground floor.)  This guy is doomed.

I’m sharing all this here because something happened at the senior center recently.  A lawyer from Neighborhood Legal Services was there giving a talk, explaining senior’s rights and such.  When it was over, I approached her and told her Lonnie’s story.  She said “Your landlord has the right not to renew his lease—BUT UNLESS HE’S A DANGER TO OTHERS IN THE BUILDING, they can’t force him out on the street if he chooses to stay and fight it.  It could take months.”

She said that tenants have a lot of rights in Pennsylvania, and if Lonnie wanted her help it would take little effort on her part to keep him in his apartment.  She then added her services were free for most and gave me her business card.

What do I do?  Do I pass this card along to Lonnie and wish him luck?  I know one thing—if I swear Lonnie to secrecy, and to not tell Steiner this business card came from me, I AM 100% CERTAIN HE’S GOING TO TELL THEM IT CAME FROM ME.

And the last thing I want is Steiner telling ME next March they’ve decided not to renew my lease.  So… what do I do?  Should I mind my own business and hope for a happy ending for all?  Or let him know he has options and risk Steiner’s ire?  Hmm.