GREED

Attempts to milk gas industry put rental community at risk

Sun Gazette
By DAVID THOMPSON dthompson@sungazette.com

Katie Miller-Knott was evicted from her apartment in Loyalsock Township in April.

A single mother raising a young son, Miller-Knott said she was told by her landlord that she had 30 days to move out.

“He came to me and said he would like to rent to gas workers because he could get more money,” Miller-Knott said.

Miller-Knott also discovered her neighbor, a gas worker, was paying three times as much rent as she was for the same type of housing.

Miller-Knott, who works for a local human service agency, said she previously had a year lease, but when it expired the landlord came to her and said it would be better if the lease was month-to-month.

At first Miller-Knott was given a vague reason for the new arrangement, but it all became clear when the landlord gave her the eviction notice, she said.

“After he told me (to move out), it kind of made sense,” she said. “I was really upset because I was raising a son on my own and it’s hard to come up with a security deposit and rent.”

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