She posted an ad for a roommate. What’s the worst that could happen?

How one company helps landlords exploit a loophole in New York’s tenant laws.

“You’ve got your whole life in front of you. You’re pretty, you’ve got this house — well, you don’t have this house anymore. This house is my house.”

When Elizabeth Abel returned to the Bay Area home she had rented to a fellow professor on SabbaticalHomes.com, he refused to leave or pay the back rent he owed. She moved in across the street and enlisted her famous academic colleagues to help her get back the house she had raised her children in.