Several renters in northern Dauphin County have been told they must move out of their apartments with only a couple of weeks notice.

"One thing I can say is I'm not leaving this place without a fight," said Troy Schreiber of Millersburg. "We got about three weeks notice."

Schreiber is among dozens of tenants who received a letter from landlord Cory Johns of Elizabethville stating they must move.

"I have a dog," said tenant Kay Reider of Millersburg. "So it's real hard when you have an animal trying to find a place."

Many of the tenants do not have written leases. Counselors at the Harrisburg Fair Housing Council advise against renting any apartment without a lease.

"It's much better with a lease," said Jim Pressley of the Fair Housing Council, "because if you don't know what your guidelines are, you don't know what you're doing to break the lease or you don't know what limits the landlord from doing certain things."

Pressley says even without a written lease, if a tenant is paying monthly rent, both the tenant and the landlord are entitled to 30 days notice before parting ways.

"It works for both of them," he said. "If they want to leave, all they have to do is give the other 30 days notice and they can move out."

While Cory Johns's letter does not give 30 days notice, it does say he's sorry.

"Well, sorry doesn't do it," said Reider. "You know you're really putting a lot of people in the street."

Johns could not be reached for comment.

Many of those being evicted are contacting the state attorney general's office. The number is 1-800-441-2555. The Web site is www.attorneygeneral.gov.

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