the apartment. To preclude any perception of abandonment, a tenant who is going out of town may benefit from informing his or her landlord of the trip, preferably in writing. If the tenant is away for an extended time, does not pay the rent, and does not respond to inquiries from the landlord, a court may find the landlord justified in concluding that the tenant has abandoned the property. Retaliation Retaliation has been a problem and some governments have introduced specific legislation to tackle this. In England & Wales Retaliatory eviction legislation has been introduced under the Deregulation Act 2015 under section 33. A landlord cannot try to evict a tenant, raise the rent, or change the terms of the tenancy because the tenant has complained in writing to the landlord, or to any government agency, regarding conditions. The landlord also cannot retaliate in this fashion because a tenant has organized or joined a tenant union, or engaged in certain other protected activities. Within six months after a tenant has engaged in any of these protected activities, any act by the landlord of raising the rent, attempting eviction (except for non-payment), or making any change in any of the terms of tenancy is presumed to be retaliation. This means that in any court proceeding, the burden will be on the landlord to prove that he or she is not retaliating against the tenant. In order to defeat a retaliation claim, a landlord must convince the court that he or she took the action for reasons independent of the tenant's protected action and that he or she would have done the same thing at the same time even if the tenant hadn't engaged in the protected activity. If the landlord waits until six months after protected actions, retaliation may still be found, but the burden of proof is on the tenant. If a landlord is found to be retaliating, he or she will not be able to evict the tenant, who may also be awarded damages from the landlord of one to three months' rent plus attorney's fees. The landlord also cannot willfully deprive the tenant of heat, hot water, gas, electricity, lights, water, or refrigeration service. Nor can the landlord lock out the tenant or remove him/her from their apartment without going through the proper court procedure. The tenant can ask the court to issue a restraining order, file a