The landlord-tenant relationship can be fertile ground for disputes that can result in eviction. Many renters may not realize there are laws and regulations that protect them, and they vary from state to state.

Rosa Edwards of learned about her new landlord VineBrook Homes through an eviction notice from the company.

The former owner of her St. Louis County, Missouri rental home sold it to the Ohio-based company and unbeknownst to her she had fallen behind on payments to the company. For months after, she fought to pay the a number of fees not included in her original rent.

“After that every month they came and stuck eviction notices on our front door,” Edwards said.

For a recent investigation into VineBrook Homes, a company that owns and manages more than 27,000 properties around the country, the Midwest Newsroom talked with tenants like Edwards frustrated by interactions with landlords. After the story aired and was published, we heard from even more renters who told similar stories.

VineBrook tenants are not alone in their frustrations. According to the Pew Research Center, about 36% of people living in the United States are renters. While it’s hard to know how many landlord-tenant disputes take place, the high number of renters in the country means these disputes are not going away.