CAMBA Legal Services, Inc.

Transcription

1 CAMBA Legal Services, Inc. Snapshot of Accomplishments, The Legal Services for the Working Poor Coalition assisted 1,825 clients, of whom 68 received full representation. Services included brief advice and counsel, information and education on consumer debt issues and legal representation in consumer matters. As a result of our efforts, the Coalition directly saved lowincome New Yorkers over $400,000. Our working poor clients had greater access to justice that resulted in the judgments against them being vacated, cases against them being dismissed, monies garnished from their bank accounts being returned, and their credit reports being corrected to accurately reflect their credit histories. Our anti-eviction housing initiative in Bushwick reached well over 1,000 people through monthly housing presentations at schools, community events, Community Board meetings and other venues. We also provided legal assistance in close to 200 housing matters in the Bushwick Zip Codes 11237, 11221, and Representation and community education on housing rights and available remedies improve the administration of justice by ensuring that tenants have a voice and empowering them to assert their rights. The dollar benefit obtained for clients that CAMBA Legal Services has represented in Housing Court is hard to quantify. Clients have preserved their homes and remain in their communities. Many times we have improved the quality of their housing by obtaining needed repairs. Generally, the assistance we obtain to pay rent arrears averages about $4,000-$5,000 per case. We also help people access or preserve a housing subsidy, which averages about $1,000 per month for the life of their tenancy and sometimes beyond. Bronx New York Richmond Kings Queens This Provider At a Glance Population Served: Low Income Working Population Area Served: New York Metropolitan Area Total Funding: $2,405,161 Total IOLA Grant(s): $425,000 Staffing - Full Time Equivalents Total Staff: Lawyers: Paralegals: 9.50 Other Staff: 5.00 Types of Services Provided Direct Civil Legal Representation Brief Services * Extended Services * Hotlines and Other Phone-Based Services ) Community Legal Education * Pro Se Assistance * Support for Other Service Providers * Major Cases or Other Advocacy Projects * The IOLA Grant(s) Consumer Law and Bushwick Anti-Eviction Projects $425,000 See page 3 CAMBA Legal Services, Inc. - 1

2 Outcomes 7,559 Individuals Benefited from Direct Civil Legal Representation Extended Representation Outcomes 1,026 People prevented eviction from private housing 346 Individuals obtained adjustment of legal status 273 Immigrants obtained citizenship 255 People avoided or delayed foreclosure or other loss of home 658 People obtained benefits from other "extended representation" Brief Representation Benefits 4,061 People benefited from legal advice and counsel 940 People benefited from non-litigation advocacy services Dollar Benefits Achieved for Clients - Total $4,320,000 Enhanced rental subsidy through FEPS: $4,320,000 Total includes back awards and 3 year total of monthly benefits, estimated over 12 months for other benefits. Examples... Outcomes for Clients n late 2011 Ms. M lost her son. Shortly thereafter, she also lost her job and her only means of I support. With no income Ms. M worried that she would become homeless. Because she was about to get her tax refund, Ms. M knew that she could pay a few months of rent and, hopefully, find a new job without accruing rental arrears. Unfortunately, as soon as her tax refund was deposited in her bank account her balance increased above New York's exemption limit and her account was restrained and monies frozen. Ms. M called CAMBA Legal Services who agreed to meet with her the next day. The freezing of her accounts meant that Ms. M had a judgment against her. CLS searched the court's database and discovered three consumer collection actions had been filed against Ms. M though she had no idea that she had been sued or why, and because the cases were filed before 2009 she would not be able to look at any of the court files until July. With assistance from CLS Ms. M was able to file papers to vacate the judgments and attempt to reopen the cases against her. CLS also agreed to appear for her on her court date and argue on Ms. M's behalf. This was important because the alleged creditors vehemently opposed the relief Ms. M was seeking. This opposition was surprising because after reviewing the court papers provided by the plaintiffs, the actions against Ms. M had glaring problems, including that one of the lawsuits was filed well past expiration of the statute of limitations, while in another the Summons and Complaint were delivered by a disgraced process server who lied about service hundreds of times and eventually had his license revoked. Ms. M's motions were granted, her bank account was released and the cases against her reopened. This allowed Ms. M to have access to her tax refund and pay her rent. CLS is confident that with Examples continued on last page Breakdown By Legal Problem Area Consumer 24% Total Housing Consumer Individual Rights Income Maintenance Other 7,559 People 4,329 People 1,825 People 1,243 People 126 People 36 People Housing 57% Other 1% Individual Rights 16% Income Maintenance 2% CAMBA Legal Services, Inc. - 2

3 Other Services Legal Services Other Than Direct Legal Representation CLARO continued to address the over 200,000 New York City residents who were sued in New York City Civil Court last year. The program is designed to provide New York City residents with brief legal advice concerning their case. Through the CLARO program, the Working Poor Coalition has provided direct assistance to approximately 480 clients, and helped to provide another avenue for New York City's working poor to find legal advice relating to consumer law issues. The Coalition has also been heavily involved in furthering the development of a CLARO Program aimed exclusively at assisting domestic violence survivors. This program is active not only in providing legal service, but also in developing the best way to deliver services to this population, recently experimenting with having clinics directly in shelters. UJC Clinics - The Urban Justice Center continued to administer monthly consumer law clinics with the 5th Avenue Committee and the University Settlement Houses, and a quarterly clinic in Queens with Queens Community House and community groups, Chhaya CDC and NICE. In May of 2012 UJC, CAMBA, Bronx Legal Services, and Start Small Think Big began a monthly consumer clinic in the Bronx providing both brief and full representations to clients served at the clinics. CAMBA Credit Repair Workshops - CAMBA conducted monthly credit repair workshops, providing advice and education concerning the cost of credit, credit scoring, and correcting inaccuracies on credit reports. Financial Counseling Services - Since July of 2011, CAMBA has partnered with Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners (formerly Credit Where Credit is Due) to provide financial counseling services to clients on-site. This full-time financial counselor provides one-on-one counseling services focused on financial empowerment and includes obtaining a copy of the individual's credit report; analysis of the credit report and credit score; developing a budget; strategies to improve one's credit; assistance in reducing expenses and increasing savings; etc. All services are free and people may schedule as many follow ups as they need. CAMBA Foreclosure Prevention Workshops - CAMBA also conducted monthly Foreclosure workshops to explain how the forclosure IOLA Project Grants Consumer Law and Bushwick Anti-Eviction Projects IOLA Funding Amount: $425,000 The Legal Services for the Working Poor Coalition created a city-wide consumer debt and financial justice legal services consortium for the working poor. This grant allowed the Coalition to screen and serve existing and outside clients in consumer matters as well as engage in substantial legislative advocacy and community education efforts The Bushwick Anti-Eviction Project was funded to improve access to justice for tenants living in Bushwick by conducting community education forums and providing legal assistance including advice and counsel and full legal representation. Number of People Benefited by Legal Services Other Than Direct Legal Representation Total: 1,975 People Community Legal Education: 1,495 People Pro Se Assistance: 480 People CAMBA Legal Services, Inc. - 3

4 Other Services, continued process works, possible remedies and other types of assistance available. People who attend the foreclosure prevention workshops are also told about the foreclosure prevention counseling program and encouraged to meet with a counselor one-on-one to follow up on their particular situation. Foreclosure Prevention Outreach - CAMBA conducting targeted outreach focused on homeowners who were delinquent or in foreclosure proceedings. Efforts included mailings, phone calls, home visits and presentations at community forums throughout the most heavily impacted parts of Brooklyn. For the Bushwick Anti-Eviction Project, CLS has undertaken a multipronged outreach campaign with the goal of providing information on landlord and tenant's rights and responsibilities; helping people to understand the Housing Court process, the rent stabilization code and legal rent enforcement; informing residents about community housing services and resources available; and teaching tenants how to get repairs done and otherwise enforce their rights. We have been working in partnership with Make The Road New York and other community organizations, Woodhull Hospital, NYCHA housing projects, elected officials, schools and churches to get more housing information out into the community through public workshops. These presentations all include a question and answer period so that participants can have their specific concerns addressed. In some cases, CLS holds a simultaneous clinic allowing for one-onone consultations. These presentations allow us to help many more people than we would be able to assist by only providing direct legal representation. One of our clinics in Bushwick was conducted at a high school where our audience was the students. Although outreach and training are general focused on adults, CLS concluded that in Bushwick it was equally important to help teenagers to understand housing issues and the services and remedies that may be available. As many of the young people we addressed are the children of non-english speaking parents, they are often the ones called upon to translate and navigate housing disputes. Our hope is that by specifically targeting these youth, we can help them to better understand the Housing Court system and can empower them to exert their families' rights as tenants. To enhance our legal service intervention, CLS has added a highly successful aftercare component to work with our highest need clients. By providing services to individuals with a history of prior Court proceedings or prior shelter stays, we have been able to prevent additional Court proceedings for 80% of clients enrolled. The intervention of a case manager has a significant impact on the long term stability of these families. By linking families to other support systems and working with them on the root causes of their instability, we are able to help them become more stable in their housing and improve their level of self-sufficiency overall. Not having to represent these families over and over Sources of Funding Total $ 2,405,161 IOLA Grants $ 425,000 State Funding $ 1,119,487 City and County $ 860,674 CAMBA Legal Services, Inc. - 4 State Funding 46% City and County 36% IOLA Grants 18%

5 Other Services, continued again in housing court, frees up the attorneys to handle other cases, averts costly litigation and helps families to stop the cycle of housing emergencies that causes people to lose their jobs, exacerbates mental health issues and impairs healthy family functioning. Support for Other Service Providers Because the number of providers of consumer legal services in New York City is so small, it is vital that organizations work together and provide support for one another in order to maximize effectiveness. To achieve this end, the Working Poor Coalition is engaged in a number of support service initiatives to assist other providers in understanding consumer law issues so that they may better advise their clients. Among these efforts are Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporations partnership with Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners, CAMBA's partnership with New York City's Office of Financial Empowerment and Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners, the Urban Justice Center and CAMBA Legal Service's various clinics, and CAMBA's assistance to legal service providers with foreclosure and domestic violence clients whose cases are affected by consumer law issues. In our community legal education efforts in Bushwick, we have also educated a number of providers about the legal rights of tenants, the eviction and housing court process, remedies available, etc. When people have a housing crisis, they often go to the school social worker, their children's teacher, community leaders, etc. Including providers in these presentations and conversations is critical to extending the reach of our program. Major Cases or Other Advocacy Projects Giselle Fritz f/k/a Giselle Carter, Evan Davis, Jason Spiegel-Grote, Patricia Casertano, on behalf of others similarly situated vs. Resurgent Capital Services, LP, LVNV Funding, LLC, Alegis Group, LLC, Mel S. Harris and Associates, LLC, and Resurgent Capital Services, LLC CLS, the National Consumer Law Center and private attorneys have filed a class action against Resurgent Capital Services, et. al. for illegally filing hundreds of lawsuits in the name of a debt collection entity that is suing on debt that they do not own. This practice is common in collection actions and judicial foreclosure proceedings. This lawsuit seeks to address the fraud committed and to create precedent to end this practice going forward Pro Bono Private Attorney Involvement The Urban Justice Center has built a strong relationship with Linklaters LLP, a large Manhattan law firm. Urban Justice has worked with Linklaters to establish two consumer law legal clinics. UJC then supervises Linklaters attorneys at these clinics, where clients are screened for consumer issues and given either brief advice or full representation. Last year this partnership was expanded to include in-house attorneys from Credit Suisse, who join with Linklaters attorneys to assist with brief advice and client intake. On many of the full representation cases, Linklaters attorneys act as the lead attorney, with substantial supervision from the Urban Justice Pro Bono Statistics During , volunteer lawyers participating in our program achieved the following results: Number of cases completed: 2 Hours contributed: 320 Dollar value of services*: $80,000 *estimated at $250 per hour Center. This method of co-operation differs sharply from the traditional referral panel model, and allows for the maximization of expert resources and client service. The Urban Justice Center alone would be unable to serve all of the full representation cases that it sees at its clinics, while Linklaters LLP would waste resources training themselves on the complexities of consumer cases that they are not familiar with. This model solves both of these issues and provides the best representation to the largest number of clients. Additionally, CAMBA Legal Services and the Urban Justice Center have developed a strong relationship with private FDCPA (Federal Debt CAMBA Legal Services, Inc. - 5

6 Other Services, continued Collection Practices Act) attorneys that has led to the filing of two class actions that could potentially benefit thousands of New York Consumers. Lastly, the coalition worked with NYLPI's Visiting Summer Associate Program hosting summer associates for 2 week placements. These placements serve the dual purpose of supporting the providers and clients and exposing law students to public interest law. By having this opportunity, the hope is that when they become associates, these lawyers will be more likely to be interested in and participate in pro bono projects. Outcomes for Clients continued from page 2 additional advocacy all of the actions against Ms. M will be dismissed. The assistance provided Ms. M was not limited to representation. Through the intake process CLS also discovered that Ms. M was having difficulty paying a federal student loan whose payment of $300 dollars a month was adding to Ms. M's financial stress. With assistance from CLS, Ms. M was able to get her payments deferred and will be applying for an income based repayment option which will reduce her payments to zero while she is unemployed and tie any future repayment to her earnings. Because of CAMBA's involvement, Ms. M was able to preserve her housing, gain access to her bank account, and lower her bills so that her limited income could go towards life's necessities. s. W came to our office seeking legal M assistance with her housing court case. She and her 6 children had lived in their affordable rent stabilized apartment in Bushwick for 2 years. Their only source of income was Public Assistance. Since Ms. W is a Spanish speaker from Honduras, she was assigned to one of our Spanish speaking attorneys. The attorney realized that Ms. W had agreed to pay more rent than was due. The attorney negotiated with the landlord's attorney to correct the agreement and obtain more time to pay the arrears. After obtaining additional time, we helped Ms. W obtain the rental arrears and restore her ongoing rental subsidy. The case needed to be extended several times to give our client the time she needed to complete the application process and obtain the checks for the money owed. After close to 5 months, we were able to successfully resolve the court case by paying the arrears and negotiating a corrected lease. Because of our intervention, this family of 7 remains stably housed. They live in an affordable apartment that is rent stabilized and their ongoing rent is being paid. CAMBA Legal Services, Inc. - 6