Right to stay in subsidized housing…
A sample of cases handled by Legal Aid of North Carolina
Note: This is an actual case submitted by an attorney from Legal Aid of North Carolina office in Morganton, NC.
What does a Catawba County woman do when she learns that her landlord
is terminating her lease? In this case, this grandmother turned to Legal
Aid in Morganton for advice.
This client had lived in a local subsidized apartment complex for fifteen
years. In August 1999, the landlord terminated her lease after her grandson
was arrested on the premises for disorderly conduct and alleged involvement
in a shooting incident several days later. The client was taking a shower
during the first incident and had been asleep in bed at the time of
the second incident.
The grandson was raised by the client and had grown up in the apartment
complex, but he had left the client’s household a year earlier. Although
the grandson frequently visited friends at the complex, he rarely visited
the client at her apartment, except to borrow money.
A Legal Aid attorney attempted to negotiate with the landlord, but he
refused to withdraw the termination notice. The landlord then filed
a summary ejectment action against the client. The Legal Aid attorney
was prepared to defend the client based on her lack of fault, but at
the trial of the action, the landlord failed to appear. The magistrate
dismissed the action and the landlord did not appeal.
As of Legal Aids most recent contact with the client, she was having
no further problems with her landlord or grandson.
"Although it was clear that the landlord was upset about the grandson’s
actions," noted the Legal Aid attorney, "he also was uncertain about
his decision to attempt to evict our client. Without our presence and
assistance, our client would most likely have unfairly had to seek other
housing."
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Mission Statement
Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that
provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income people in
order to ensure equal access to justice and to remove legal barriers
to economic opportunity.