By: Dionne Hines Morse, Paralegal, AVLF Saturday Lawyer Program Coordinator
Like so many tenants who contact AVLF, he expressed hopelessness and frustration with his living situation. Mr. Carlton had originally called our office for relief from the deplorable conditions in which he lived. He explained that he, his fiancée, and his two children began renting an apartment unit in January 2011. Since move-in, the client noticed the unit would flood each time it would rain, excessive mold and mildew throughout the apartment, and a large hole behind the stove, which enabled rats to enter the unit. To make matters worse, the children began experiencing respiratory problems that their pediatrician attributed to the mold spores in the unit.
Mr. Carlton had complained to his landlord about the unlivable conditions on numerous occasions to no avail. Like many of our low-income clients, Mr. Carlton expressed that he felt stuck, with no positive outcome in sight. As the apartment is in close proximity to his job and his children’s school, he was willing to remain in the property, if the landlord would be willing to make the needed repairs. However, he could not afford to continue to put his family’s health at risk, and give money to a landlord who had made no effort to make amends, other than to lean a tin baking sheet against the hole in the wall in an attempt to contain the rodent infestation. Like many of our clients, Mr. Carlton was faced with a difficult decision.
After several months of not getting a response to his repair requests, Mr. Carlton decided to make preparations to relocate his family. The landlord was given notification of Mr. Carlton’s intent to move and started the eviction proceedings out of retaliation. Once Mr. Carlton received the dispossessory warrant, he called our office again to discuss how best to respond to a Proceeding Against Tenant Holding Over. With my help, Mr. Carlton filed an Answer and Counterclaim regarding the lack of repair that had diminished the value of the unit. Armed with photos of rodents that had entered the unit, and mold and property damage caused by reoccurring leaks, Mr. Carlton said that for the first time he felt confident in his ability to stand up to his landlord with the help of an attorney by his side.
Fortunately for Mr. Carlton and all our clients who have a small window in which to file an answer and stand trial (an Answer must be filed within seven days of being served an eviction warrant, and that trial must be held not more than 14 days after filing of an answer), volunteer attorneys from the law firms of Troutman Sanders, King & Spalding, Carlton Fields, and Seyfarth Shaw have all committed to taking eviction defense cases on a regular basis. With support from AVLF staff attorneys, including training, and the provision of recommended actions and relevant case law, our volunteers secure a favorable outcome for our clients nearly 100% of the time. More often than not, these cases settle in mediation, without ever going before a judge. As for Mr. Carlton, the volunteer attorney was able to get the landlord to agree to let Mr. Carlton out of his lease without any further rent payments, and a neutral reference moving forward, as negative credit remarks that could impede their ability to rent in the future are also a common concern of our client population.
Because we witness the often unfavorable outcome of unrepresented tenants in landlord tenant court, it is without a doubt that we recognize the invaluable impact made through the efforts of our Eviction Defense volunteers. A lawyer’s presence can mean the difference between a family having the right to remain in their home or being ordered to move in one week’s time. In just a matter of hours, our volunteer attorneys change our clients’ lives. As Mr. Carlton excitedly reported to me moments after his hearing, “I don’t know how you all did it, but you really looked out for me and my family, and I just want to say ‘thank you’.”
