Go to
http://www.findlaw.com and look up tenants rights under the real estate heading. It gives you a lot of useful information about all of your rights as well as a state by state list of lawyers who are well suited to help. Just as a contingency plan, your friend needs to be searching for another home. I'm a real estate agent in TN and there is a great first time home buyers program which offers down payment assistance as well as help with your closing costs. It's a great program since owning a home usually is much cheaper than renting one and these programs provide people the opportunity to own a home who otherwise would not qualify. I don't know what state your friend lives in but if they get in touch with a reputable realtor, they can get more detailed information about this. I hope this helps your friend out and I wish him/her the best of luck!