100s Of Iowa Tenants To Get The Boot As Buildings In Foreclosure, Maintenance & Utility Bills Financially Choke Landlord; Consequences Concern Cops

In Sioux City, Iowa, KCAU-TV Channel 9 reports:

• Hundreds of renters in Sioux City are being told to move because of financial and legal problems facing their landlord. The landlord, KJM Incorporated, also known as Meyer Company, is being taken to court for nearly $1 million in unpaid mortgages.

• Tenants [...] were told on Wednesday they would need to move out by February 7th. The notice says because of unresolved maintenance issues and high utility bills the company can't afford pay, all tenants must relocate.

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• "It's disgusting," said [one tenant]. "[There are] cockroaches everywhere. The floors, the walls are caving in. The ceiling, the only thing holding my ceiling up is a piece of plywood. It's unhealthy especially when you have asthma and a brand new baby on the way."

For more, see Hundreds Forced To Move As Landlord Taken To Court.

In a related story, see Police, Renters Wonder What Will Happen Next:

• [K]JM Incorporated and owner Duane Meyer are closing dozens of buildings in Sioux City after he says high utility and maintenance costs got the best of him. Now tenants are wondering what to do, while police are concerned about how they will monitor so many vacant buildings. [...] Captain Melvin Williams with the Sioux City Police Department says having so many buildings become vacant at once will be a major concern.

For story update (1-28-09), see Some Tenants Now Told They Can Stay.

For other posts involving the problems tenants face in homes in foreclosure, go here, go here, go here, go here, go here, and go here. ThetaTenantRentSkimming