NEW YORK—Shocked that the personal correspondence would take such a cold and impersonal tone, delinquent tenant Ross Grimley, 28, found the eviction notice posted on the door of his apartment to be disturbingly all business. “I thought they would at least give me a ‘good morning’ before getting down to brass tacks, but ‘to whom it may concern’ makes it sound like I may not even care about getting kicked out of my own place,” said Grimley, noting that the form letter rudely tacked over his peephole did not even refer to him until the third sentence , and even then only obliquely as “tenant.” “In situations like this, I feel like a little bit of warmth would go a long way, but instead it’s all stilted decorum, ‘pursuant to a written lease’ this and ‘occupancy will be forfeited’ that. I mean, after living here for over a year, you’d think I’d have earned a little human recognition.” Grimley also expressed surprise that his landlord hadn’t learned some manners after the previous two “rather rude” eviction notices were also ignored.

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