The City of Evanston held a meeting on tenants' rights and responsibilities Tuesday evening at the Evanston Civic Center in cooperation with the Interfaith Housing Center of the Northern Suburbs.
The city partnered with the Interfaith Housing Center for a program that works with landlords and tenants to give advice and solve disputes. The educational event on Tuesday, attended by about 30, consisted of rules and guidelines for tenants' relationships with their landlords and responsibilities when renting an apartment or house. Basically, it conversationally outlined particular aspects of the Evanston Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance.
"Keeping neighborhoods safe and clean" was a priority of the meeting and continues to be a goal of the City of Evanston and the Interfaith Housing Center, according to Jeff Murphy, the city's division manager of building and inspections services. Murphy and main speaker Brendan P. Saunders, director of advocacy and organizing for the Interfaith Housing Center, also discussed the optimal way to deal with bothersome neighbors: communication with the neighbors and the landlord.
Saunders had no comment on the three-unrelated ordinance, which prohibits more than three unrelated tenants living in one unit, in relation to tenants' rights.
"This is just about knowing rights and responsibilities," he said. "Both sides, tenants and landlords, have struggles."