When he came to the Indianapolis eviction court where my students and I represent tenants, Robert’s case made no sense. His landlord had filed for eviction against Robert, alleging he had paid his rent late. But Robert had receipts to show differently. Lots of receipts. Robert, now in his eighties, had been living in his apartment for more than two decades.

When we confronted the landlord’s attorney with this, he shrugged. “OK, we’ll dismiss this case,” he said. “But his lease is up in three months anyway, and the new property owner is not going to renew.”

Turns out the attempt to evict Robert was one of a stack of cases filed by the investor-owned real estate company that recently purchased his building. The plan was to clear out the current tenants, most of whom were, like Robert, black and longtime residents of the neighborhood. The next steps were to make a few cosmetic changes in the building, rename it, and start selling condos to the wealthier, predominately white people who had begun moving into Robert’s neighborhood.