Editor's note: This is the first in a series of occasional columns Jen Eyer will write about problems faced by local residents and consumers. Send your tips and ideas to jeneyer@annarbor.com.

If you’ve ever rented a place to live, you know the rules. You sign a lease. Put down a security deposit. Pay the rent on time every month. Don’t cause trouble.

But what if you hold up your end of the bargain, and then your landlord fails to pay taxes, or association fees? You could get evicted.

Like Marquetta and George Meads.

I met the couple three weeks ago, after a conversation I had with Legal Services of South Central Michigan attorney Elizabeth Wharton. The Meads are being evicted from their home because their landlord, Sharon Jackson of Ann Arbor, was delinquent on her association fees. Wharton is assisting them.

When the Meads moved into the unit in the Pittsfield Village Condominium Association in February, they thought things were looking up.

They previously lived in Ypsilanti, and they hoped the new home’s proximity to bus routes would make life less complicated, since they don’t own a car.

But in early June, they were shocked to discover an eviction notice on their door. They were told to be out by July 1.

Sheer unfairness aside, the Meads’ situation was made worse by the fact that they didn’t have enough money for a moving truck, or for application fees and a security deposit on a new place — if they could even find one that quickly. They receive a Section 8 federal housing assistance voucher, and it’s a lengthy process to find a new place that will accept the funds, and then get it inspected and approved.

Complicating their situation even further is the fact that Marquetta is disabled. She was badly burned in a house fire as a child, leaving her mobility compromised. Climbing stairs is painful, so they need a ground-floor unit.

And they couldn’t count on using their security deposit toward a new apartment, because Jackson had indicated she planned to keep half of it, for unknown reasons. The unit is Jackson’s only rental, and she said she’s been trying to sell it for several years.

When I met with the Meads at their home, they showed me the receipts Jackson had issued for their $637-a-month rent payments, which were always on time.

Jackson did not use that money to pay toward the roughly $800 per month she owed Pittsfield Village for her unit, which she chose not to convert from a co-op to a condo during the association’s transition last year. She currently owes the association about $6,000 in back fees and hasn’t made a payment since November 2009, records show. Under the co-op structure, leasees such as Jackson don’t own their units; rather, they own shares in a not-for-profit corporation and have the right to lease space in the building. They also may have a small mortgage payment if they didn’t have enough cash to buy into the building. Jackson’s mortgage payment is about $250 a month.

I spoke with Jackson for more than an hour in late June, and when I asked what she did with the more than $3,000 she collected, Jackson said she spent some of it on repairs for the unit.

According to both parties, the past five months have been fraught with conflict over the repairs. Some things have been fixed, such as the toilet, which didn’t flush, and the bathtub, which was black with mildew, but others haven’t. The stove doesn’t have indicator knobs, some of the windows are moldy, many of the blinds have teeth marks on them, and they haven’t had hot water since June 6, when a basement flood damaged the hot water heater.

The basement also hasn’t been properly cleaned and sanitized since the flood, according to both parties. George and Marquetta both have asthma, which they say has been aggravated by mold in the basement.

Jackson, who is retired from Ford Motor Company, told me she can’t afford to fix the hot water heater or get the basement cleaned.

“They just kept sticking all these repairs at me,” Jackson said. “They were supposed to take [the unit] as-is.”

The lease did not stipulate which repairs Jackson was responsible for prior to the Meads moving in.

The Meads also told me there wasn’t an inventory checklist when they moved in, so I asked Jackson how she arrived at her decision to withhold half of the security deposit. Had the Meads done any damage to the unit?

Jackson didn’t answer directly; instead, she asked me if I thought she should return the deposit. Seriously.

Surprised, I told her it wasn’t my decision. And I reiterated my question: had they caused any damage that necessitated keeping some of that money?

She responded by saying that she would give the Meads their entire deposit back. “I feel so bad about this,” Jackson said. “I never wanted this to happen — I just couldn’t keep up with the payments.”

Then I contacted the association office, and asked to speak to someone about giving the Meads more time to move. Wharton had also previously called the association.

Site Manager Melissa Brown told me the board of directors planned to consider the request at its June 25 meeting, and that she would pass my inquiry along to them.

None of the members responded to me, but the board did vote to give the Meads another month. They now have until Aug. 1 to vacate the unit.

George expressed relief about the extension, and also about Jackson’s intention to return the security deposit.

“It’s enough time for us to get out of here, but I wish we didn’t have to move,” George said.

Carol Piering, director of public relations at Associa — the company that manages Pittsfield Village — said the association didn’t know Jackson had tenants in the unit until the eviction papers were served.

“Pittsfield Village is doing everything they can to help. We think the situation is very unfortunate,” Piering said.

Now the Meads are trying to put money aside for moving costs, and have started looking at new apartments. If they can’t find something before Aug. 1, they plan to move in with George’s sister and her two children, who live in a two-bedroom apartment in Ypsilanti.

Wharton said under Section 8 rules, the Meads have 60 days with a potential 30-day extension to locate new housing, get it inspected and approved, and move in — otherwise they will lose their voucher and go back on the waiting list, which is a couple of years long.

Jen Eyer is on the Community Team at AnnArbor.com, and she writes a citizen advocacy column. Do you have a problem you’d like to share? Contact Jen at jeneyer@annarbor.com or 623-2577, or fill out this form.