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later. On the day of their hearing, they were able to enter into a Consent Agreement that kept them in their rental home. They also avoided a money judgment that would have impacted their credit and kept them from renting or purchasing a permanent home.
Meeting with a volunteer attorney can prevent landlords engaging in illegal activity from escaping with impunity. In November 2017, a tenant came to the HCAC looking for help after her landlord initiated eviction proceedings against her. The tenant was confused because she gave her landlord her checking account number for automatic rent withdrawal, and money left her account, but the landlord still filed a dispossessory claim. A discussion with an HCAC intern and attorney, followed by a thorough review of bank statements the tenant brought with her, showed that the landlord had actually stolen money well in excess of the rent owed. HCAC volunteers assisted her with filing a counterclaim for the amount stolen and, several weeks later, the tenant was awarded a $ 7,500.00 judgment.
These families were not the only ones to benefit from the HCAC’ s rebirth. In the first three months after the HCAC reopened, it helped 119 individuals and their families navigate the dispossessory process. Of those individuals, approximately 43 percent were able to meet with their landlords and reach a mutually beneficial consent agreement, and 31 percent won in court or had the landlord voluntarily dismiss the case. In those three months, the HCAC helped those 119 families avoid $ 118,405.65 in money judgments.
Numbers aside, the HCAC hopes to inspire law students to engage in pro bono and public interest legal work once they become attorneys, and to help new attorneys discover the benefits of pro bono work. Student interns gain valuable client interviewing skills, learn property and landlord-tenant law, and see civil procedure in action by assisting the HCAC with post-visit case tracking and data collection. Volunteer attorneys get another opportunity to serve their community, sharpen their client interview skills, and learn more about the law.
Tenants like Mary Christopher should not risk losing their homes simply because the dispossessory process is confusing and intimidating. The HCAC and its attorney and law student volunteers help to ensure that guidance is available when it is needed most. ▪
Cole Thaler is the director of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation’ s Safe & Stable Homes Project.
Andrew Thompson is an Atlanta attorney and the part-time coordinator of the Housing Court Assistance Project.
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