CAMBA Legal Services, Inc.

Transcription

1 CAMBA Legal Services, Inc. Overview of Achievements, The Legal Services for the Working Poor Coalition served over 1,700 people this year through the Consumer Law Project. Services included legal representation, brief advice and counsel, information and education on consumer debt issues, financial counseling services and referral services. The 69 low-income New Yorkers who successfully had debt expunged as a result of our representation collectively saved $345,000. 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. With funding from New York State s Superstorm Sandy Social Services Block Grant, CAMBA Legal Services recently hired a new staff attorney to provide consumer law services in Far Rockaway. The attorney s office is located in the neighborhood, which will allow residents of this underserved area to access services locally, eliminating the extensive time that deters residents in Far Rockaway from obtaining services. CAMBA Legal Service s anti-eviction housing initiative in Bushwick reached more than 700 people through monthly housing presentations at schools, community events, Community Board meetings and other venues. We also provided legal assistance in 260 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 CLS 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 more than $1,000 per month for the life of their tenancy and sometimes beyond. Bronx New York St aten Island Kings Que en s This Provider At a Glance Population Served: Low Income and Working Poor Population Area Served: New York Metropolitan Area Total Funding: $2,924,192 Total IOLA Grant: $360,000 Staffing - Full Time Equivalents Total Staff: Lawyers: Paralegals: Other Staff: 5.50 Types of Services Provided Direct Civil Legal Representation Brief Services Extended Services Hotlines and Other Phone-Based Services Technology and Other Innovations Community Legal Education Pro Se Assistance Collaborations With Other Service Providers Major Cases or Other Advocacy Projects CAMBA Legal Services, Inc. - 1

2 Outcomes 10,159 Individuals Benefited from 4,127 Closed Direct Civil Legal Cases Dollar Benefits Achieved for Clients* - Total $4,770,000 Other Federal Benefits: $760,000 Affirmative Judgments: $10,000 Other Benefits: $4,000,000 *Total includes back awards and total monthly benefits, estimated over 6 months (unemployment compensation), 12 months (other federal benefits, equitable distribution of assets, affirmative judgments and other benefits), 60 months (Social Security, SSI) or 120 months (child and spousal support). Examples... Outcomes for Clients Extended Representation Outcomes 4,265 People benefited from extended representation Brief Representation Benefits 3,148 People benefited from legal advice and counsel 1,063 People benefited from non-litigation advocacy services 1,683 People benefited by referral to other sources of help n 2012, Ms. C, a 48 year old home health aide who speaks only Spanish, was the victim of identity theft. The thief I used Ms. C s credit card to make a number of unauthorized purchases and cash advances, creating over $4,000 in liability. This credit card fraud was coupled with checking account fraud as the cash advances were placed in her bank account and then withdrawn, creating not only liability for the advances but also racking up ATM and transfer fees. This fraud was devastating to Ms. C both financially and emotionally. As soon as Ms. C discovered the fraud, she notified the bank and filed a police report. While the bank investigated, they ultimately denied her claims. Eventually, Ms. C was referred to CAMBA, who agreed to represent her. CAMBA filed a Federal lawsuit under the Truth in Lending Act and the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, the statutes that govern fraud disputes for credit cards and bank accounts, respectively. The lawsuits alleged that the bank did not conduct a proper investigation of Ms. C s fraud claims as required by EFTA and TILA. After receiving the lawsuit, the bank reversed the charges and refunded the money lost by Ms. C. She still had claims for damages and the lawsuit proceeded. Recently, the lawsuit settled with Ms. C receiving the maximum in statutory damages, attorney s fees, and an agreement to remove any negative items from her credit report. r. S, a single adult male who has lived in his apartment since 2005, was approved for Section 8 and his rent M share was set at $98 per month. His landlord told him that his share was $269 per month. Mr. S overpaid the rent for almost two years. When he realized his share was lower, he calculated that he had a credit, informed the landlord and stopped paying. In 2009, the landlord commenced a series of cases against him. When Mr. S came to CAMBA, the case against him claimed he owed over $6, We subpoenaed Section 8 and obtained leases and HAP contracts going back to We also went through rent receipts from 2005 to determine how much was owed. By our calculations, Mr. S did not owe any money. The landlord did not agree with our calculations and the case was set for trial. We began working on a motion to dismiss, and a month before trial the landlord asked to meet and review the documents again. They finally agreed that Mr. S did not owe $6,000.00, but instead had a credit. Mr. S lived out his credit and was advised to hold onto his current rent. We tendered the money in court and the case was discontinued. The stipulation clearly states that he has a $0 balance which was very important to him. This will protect him in the future should the landlord decide to sue him again. Breakdown of Cases by Legal Problem Area People Cases Total 10,159 4,127 Consumer 1,763 1,763 Housing 7,228 1,458 Individual Rights Income Maintenance CAMBA Legal Services, Inc. - 2 Housing 35% Consumer 43% Individual Rights 20% Income Maintenance 2%

3 Other Services Technology and Other Innovations The Working Poor Coalition maintains a listserv that is made up exclusively of members of the Coalition s IOLA Consumer Group. This listserv allows coalition members to organize meetings, discuss client issues, and inform group members about emergency cases that need representation before the next scheduled meeting. Coalition members are also members of the New York City Consumer Law Listserv, and the National Consumer Law Center s Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Listserv, Auto Fraud, Debt Collection Defense, and Student Loan Law Listservs. Participating in these listservs allows coalition members to have questions answered by experienced providers from across the nation and to keep abreast of new developments and cutting edge practices in the area of consumer law. UJC-CDP maintains its own website [ what-we-do/community-lawyering/consumer-justice/] which discusses their mission, theory of change, the work and has links to important cases, clinic schedules and fact sheets they have developed on consumer justice topics. CAMBA s Housing staff are members of the housing providers listserv and both provide and obtain useful support through it. Using these listservs as a resource is a tremendous productivity enhancement, often providing quick answers to questions that might otherwise take hours to obtain. Legal Services Other Than Direct Legal Representation CLARO - Over 79,000 consumer lawsuits were filed against New York City residents NYC Civil Court in No direct representation system could possibly serve all the consumer cases that the NYC Civil Court sees in a year. This reality has led to the creation of the Civil Legal Advice Resource Office or CLARO. The CLARO program is designed to provide NYC residents, who have been sued in civil court with legal advice on their case. CLARO is citywide, administered by Fordham Law School, St. John s Law School, or Brooklyn Law School and staffed by volunteer attorneys trained in consumer issues. These volunteers are supervised by expert attorneys - often members of this Coalition. Through CLARO, the Working Poor Coalition has provided direct assistance to approximately 600 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 focused exclusively on dv survivors. This program not only provides legal services, but also works on developing best practices in service delivery to this population. We are currently staffing clinics directly in dv shelters. UJC Clinics - The Urban Justice Center conducted monthly consumer law clinics with the 5th Avenue Committee and University Settlement House, as well as quarterly clinics with Northwest Queens Financial Education Network. In May of 2012 UJC, CAMBA, Bronx Legal Services, and Start Small Think Big began a monthly consumer clinic in the Bronx to provide brief and full representations to clients in need of consumer law services. The effort was so successful that the organizations have all enthusiastically committed to continuing the clinics. 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 work in partnership with other community organizations - Woodhull Hospital, NYCHA housing projects, elected officials, schools and churches to get more housing information to the community through public workshops. These presentations include a question and answer period so that participants can have their specific concerns addressed. The presentations allow us to help many more people than we would be able to assist by only providing direct legal representation. To enhance our legal service intervention, CLS has added a highly successful aftercare component to our work with high need clients. By providing services to individuals with a history of 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 again in housing court, frees up the attorneys to handle other cases, averts costly litigation and helps families to stop the cycle of Number of People Benefited by Legal Services Other Than Direct Legal Representation Total: 2,931 People Community Legal Education and Pro Se Assistance: 2,931 People CAMBA Legal Services, Inc. - 3

4 Other Services, continued housing emergencies that causes people to lose their jobs, exacerbates mental health issues and impairs healthy family functioning. Collaborations With Other Service Providers In addition to the work with other community organizations described above, the coalition itself is a powerful collaboration whose work together goes well beyond our monthly meetings. Not only do members of the coalition co-counsel cases together but coalition members work together informally, to review letters, edit briefs and discuss case strategy. In addition, coalition members have strong co-counseling relationships with other legal service providers. In the past year coalition members have co-counseled cases with Start Small Think Big, Staten Island Legal Service s Domestic Violence Unit, and Fordham Law School s Tax and Consumer Clinic. Co-counseling cases with these organizations allowed coalition members to expand their outreach and our partners on the cases to build consumer capacity. In collaboration with the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), Human Resource Administration (HRA), Office of Court Administration (OCA) and Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) we run a satellite office at the Brooklyn Housing Court. The office is part of a DHS citywide initiative and serves clients who have prior history of homelessness. Tenants who need our services are identified and referred to us by the Housing Court. HRA through a designated center and the liaison office in the court house assists us with obtaining public assistance records, securing emergency rental arrears assistance and processing check requests. OTDA allows us to submit Family Eviction Prevention Supplement (FEPS) applications on-line. As a result of the collaboration we are able to identify the most vulnerable tenants, prevent evictions and resolve many court cases in a highly efficient, effective and expeditious manner fostered by the direct communication between our organization and the various City and State agencies. Over the contract year, we served over 285 clients through this initiative and have provided information and service referral to an additional 700 tenants. Backup or Support Services In order to provide the most broad and effective assistance possible, it is vital that organizations work together and provide support for each other. 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, both NMIC and CAMBA are Financial Empowerment Centers partnering with Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners (NTFP) and NYC s Office of Financial Empowerment to provide one-on-one financial counseling services to clients and other people in the community. CAMBA is a Virtual VITA site partnering with the Food Bank of New York City to prepare income taxes for low income individuals. These numbers are captured in Pro Se Assistance section of the Statistical report. Additional collaborative efforts include the Urban Justice Center and CAMBA Legal Service s various clinics, serving as CLARO experts supervising CLARO cases and CAMBA s assistance to legal service providers with foreclosure and domestic violence clients whose cases are affected by consumer law issues. Through these various initiatives, over 2,000 clients were assisted. The anti-eviction legal services program has developed close working relationships with schools, elected officials offices and community based organizations in Bushwick through our outreach efforts. Through these relationships, we hold community education workshops and conduct outreach directly to tenants. We also provide technical assistance to the staff of those organizations and help them to assist community members with emergency housing issues. This has helped tenants maintain housing stability Sources of Funding Total $2,924,192 IOLA Grant $360,000 City and County Funding $1,267,392 State Funding $1,204,800 Other $92,000 State Funding 41% Other 3% IOLA Grant 12% CAMBA Legal Services, Inc. - 4 City and County Funding 44%

5 Other Services, continued by averting evictions and keeps tenants from being intimidated into turning over the keys to their apartments under pressure from their landlords. It has also developed more landlord-tenant expertise in the community by educating the providers about tenant s rights, the eviction process and housing law overall. Additionally, we do emergency housing intakes for clients referred to us by our community partners when necessary. We educate over 700 community residents and provide direct legal representation to more than 30 clients and technical assistance in approximately 25 cases per year. Major Cases or Other Advocacy Projects Fritz v. Resurgent Capital Services, LP et. al., Eastern District of New York In July of 2013 Judge Bloc of the Eastern District of New York ruled on the Defendant s motion to dismiss the class action file by CAMBA Legal Services, The National Consumer Law Center, and private attorneys. The lawsuit involved the mass filing of lawsuits in the name of an entity that did not have ownership of the debts being sued on and the reporting of unearned court costs on credit reports. Judge Bloc issued a strong decision largely denying the defendant s motion to dismiss. Importantly, the court found that suing in the name of the incorrect party, and the misrepresentation that a debt collector was licensed could be a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and New York s Deceptive Practices Act. Also, that reporting unearned court costs to credit reporting agencies could violate the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act and New York s Deceptive Practices Act, and that the Defendant s parent corporations could be liable for the acts of its subsidiaries and agents. Pro Bono Volunteer Involvement CAMBA Legal Services, Urban Justice Center, and Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation have developed strong relationships with numerous private pro bono attorneys. Coalition members work with pro bono counsel on a wide variety of cases. Chiefly, coalition members collaborated with pro bono counsel on impact litigation. Impact litigation is often extraordinarily labor intensive. It would not be possible for coalition members to undertake these cases, and at the same time satisfy the coalition s primary goal of providing direct individual representation to consumers. For this reason, cocounseling cases with private attorneys is vital. This year coalition members co-counseled numerous cases with private counsel, including an appeal to the Second Circuit, a class action objection, and two ongoing class actions. Coalition members also work with private pro bono counsel on individual actions in areas of the law they are less familiar with. This allows coalition members to gain experience in these areas and build capacity. These joint efforts include working with pro bono counsel on federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act cases that resulted in significant financial recovery for our clients. Coalition members also receive assistance from law student interns. These interns assist with legal research and writing as well as partnering with coalition members on larger projects. For example, this winter CAMBA Legal Services hosted an intern from the Fordham Law School. During the course of the internship CLS attorneys and Fordham professors agreed to work together on an appeal with the intern working extensively on drafting the initial brief. 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 participate in pro bono projects. Pro Bono Statistics During , the following volunteers provided services in our program: Attorneys: 8 Volunteers 500 Hours Law Students: 10 Volunteers 1,896 Hours Other Volunteers: 6 Volunteers 1,350 Hours Total Cases Completed by Attorneys: 306 Cases Dollar Value of Attorney Services*: $125,000 *estimated at $250 per hour CAMBA Legal Services, Inc. - 5