THE NACBA CONVENTION EXPEREINCE
on point was “Working with Limited
Proficiency Clients.” Coincidentally,
shortly before the NACBA conference,
I received a referral from a colleague
for my first Limited English Proficient
(LEP) bankruptcy client. The client is a
low-income domestic violence survivor
who was evicted from subsidized
housing because her abusive husband
did extensive damage to the apartment
and failed to make the rental payments
unbeknownst to the client. After
leaving her husband and applying
for a new housing voucher, the client
was deemed ineligible because of
the rental debt owed to her previous
landlord – putting her and her children
at risk for homelessness. A bankruptcy
would discharge the rental debt (in
addition to defaulted debts she was
forced to co-sign by her husband),
making her eligible again for housing
assistance. While the bankruptcy case
was straightforward enough, I was
worried about my ability to effectively
communicate with the client through
an interpreter and the logistics of
using interpreters in the bankruptcy
proceeding. The LEP session I
attended not only provided me with
the resources I needed to navigate the
logistics of getting appropriate language
interpretation at the 341 meeting,
but also provided practical advice
about using interpreters to ensure
LEP clients fully understand their
rights and responsibilities throughout
the bankruptcy process. Equipped
with the knowledge I gained at the
conference, I came home to Vermont
and successfully filed a Chapter 7 for
the LEP client and set up appropriate
interpretation for the 341 meeting. Best
of all, the housing authority agreed to
National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys
Summer 2016
reverse its denial of the client’s housing
voucher in light of the bankruptcy filing,
and she and her children once again
have housing security!
Bankruptcy can have a profoundly
positive impact on the lives of the lowincome, disabled and elderly debtors
served by legal services agencies. I
am grateful to NACBA for supporting
the Henry J. Sommer scholarship and
making it possible for legal aid attorneys
like me to get comprehensive education
in consumer bankruptcy practice. Every
debtor, regardless of their ability to
pay, deserves a competent bankruptcy
lawyer. I look forward to continuing to
expand and elevate my bankruptcy
practice at Vermont Legal Aid with the
resources and knowledge I gained at
the NACBA convention.
CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY JOURNAL
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