By Simon Rios, WBUR Reporter
May 13, 2021
Simon Rios, WBUR Reporter
New Bedford resident Liliana Cruz holds up a copy of the eviction letter she received in January. The landlord wants her out by the end of May. Simón Rios/WBUR
Liliana Cruz choked up at her kitchen table in New Bedford as she talked about faithfully paying her rent — every month over the last five years. Despite that, her landlord has sent her a notice ordering her to leave the three-bedroom house by the end of this month.
“From one day to the next, it doesn’t matter what I pay, I have to go,” she said in Spanish. “And I don’t bother the landlord with anything. I spent my own money to fix the bathrooms. This is heavy, but God gives me strength.”