Before COVID-19, Melody had worked at Showmars for 22 years, whipping up the daily specials.
When someone contacts Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy for help, they are often struggling to stay afloat in a storm of crisis.
They have a big problem impacting their life but do not know how to fix it. Their problem is a symptom of various unmet legal needs that need to be addressed comprehensively to put that person on a better path.
Like many of our neighbors, she was already struggling when COVID-19 turned her life upside down.
As the primary financial support and caregiver for her family, she was trying to keep up with medical bills and fighting to keep her home as she faced foreclosure for unpaid property taxes from the mid-2000s left from her parents’ estate.
The Advocacy Center had helped her negotiate a payment plan with the county that included forgiveness of a substantial portion of the debt.
“When the pandemic hit, I lost my job,” Melody says. “I was devastated. I thought, ‘How am I going to make those payments?’”
Melody is used to being the one helping others. But when it came to piecing together the support her family needed to remain stable, she could not do it alone.
Again, she called the Advocacy Center. We connected her with Legal Aid of North Carolina-Charlotte to help her get expanded unemployment benefits under the CARES Act to support her family.
“I’ve worked all my life and never needed any benefits,” Melody says. “I didn’t really know how that stuff went.”
As part of our work, we learned that Melody’s sister, Wendy’s social security benefits had been terminated despite her disability. The Advocacy Center stepped back in to ensure she was receiving the benefits she was entitled to.
We also helped Wendy apply for food stamps to help their family through this crisis. Melody would soon turn 65, so we also ensured everything was prepared for her to receive Medicare in a few short months.
We checked in with Melody recently to see how things are going for her and her family one year into the pandemic.
It’s been hard.
She’s lost eight family members to COVID-19. In addition to not being able to physically mourn with her loved ones, she’s missed the big family get togethers held every year—egg hunts at Easter and a family reunion in September.
Melody says one thing she’s learned through her experience is “it’s okay to ask for help and it’s okay to not be okay.”
She compares the past year to sailing through a storm and credits the staff at the Advocacy Center for guiding her to calmer waters.
“Just knowing I had them there, I was able to stay in my boat,” she says. “Things are smoother now.”
Despite the past year, she says she is still looking for the silver lining in everything.
She hopes to return to her job whipping up the daily special at Showmars in the City of Charlotte Government Center, where she had worked for 22 years. And she dreams of one day owning her own food truck.
In the meantime, she’s glad to have her health, her family cared for and a place to call if she needs help.
She smiles every time she drives by the Advocacy Center and Legal Aid office on Elizabeth Avenue.
“Look at how much work the people in that teeny little building do!” Melody says. “The work they do, it’s needed. Because sometimes people just need a helping hand. It’s been a blessing.”
Melody, we’re glad we could help. Call us if you need anything.
Your support of the Access to Justice Campaign makes success stories like Melody’s possible. Consider making a contribution today!
CDC Eviction Moratorium: What you Need to Know
Posted on
*Updated June 29, 2021. Original post September 10th, 2020*
The federal government, through the Center for Disease Control, has announced a temporary halt on evictions through July 31, 2021 to prevent the further spread of COVID-19. Under the order, landlords and property owners are prohibited from evicting certain tenants impacted by COVID-19. If you are an immigrant, you may have concerns about claiming protection under the eviction moratorium. While we think the risk is minimal, we provide the information below to help you decide what is best for you and your family.
CDC Evictions Moratorium Flyer (English)
CDC Evictions Moratorium Flyer (Spanish)
How do I Qualify?
You qualify for the temporary protection against eviction if one of the following applies in your situation:
You cannot pay your full rent payment because of household income, loss of compensable hours of work or wages, lay-offs, or extraordinary out-of-pocket medical expenses.
Your income is below $99,000 annually for an individual/ $198,000 annually for a couple.
You are using your best efforts to make timely partial payments that are as close to the full payment as your circumstances permit.
You have used best efforts to obtain all available government assistance available for rent or housing.
If evicted, you will become homeless or will have to move in with others in close quarters.
How do I claim protection under the Temporary Eviction Moratorium?
To claim the protection against eviction, every adult tenant must sign an affidavit that includes an agreement to pay any accumulated rent arrears after July 31, 2020.
The declaration is a sworn statement, and there are criminal penalties for signing the declaration if it is not true!
Give the signed declaration to the landlord
Keep copies of the signed declaration.
Follow the rental agreement.
Why might I worry about signing the affidavit as an immigrant?
An immigrant may be denied a visa, lawful permanent resident status, or reentry into the US (as a lawful permanent resident) if she or he is likely to become a public charge. Public charge is defined as someone who is primarily dependent on the government for subsistence.
Why I SHOULD NOT worry about signing the affidavit even though I am an immigrant:
Getting help under the Temporary Eviction Moratorium is not considered cash or other financial assistance that could count against you as a federal benefit for the public charge test.
The income limit for the federal moratorium is substantially higher than the income threshold for the public charge test. When you state that your income is not above $99,000/$198,000 annually, you do not admit that your income is below 125% federal poverty guideline ($32,750 annual income for family of 4) and, therefore, you do not jeopardize your immigration application.
Is it conceivable that my immigration application could be denied because I signed the affidavit stating that I cannot afford my rent?
It is conceivable but very unlikely and, certainly, there should be a legal challenge to a finding of public charge on this basis.
Remember that public charge DOES NOT APPLY to:
Asylum or Refugee status
Green Card renewal
TPS, U or T Visa status
DACA status or renewal
Special Immigrant Juvenile Status
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)
Immigrants who already have LPR/ a green card
CONTACT CHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LEGAL ADVOCACY TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE ABOUT YOUR OPTIONS.
704-376-1600
Línea en español 800-247-1931
Obtenga La Ayuda Que Necesita Bajo La Moratoria Temporal De Desalojo
El gobierno federal, a través del Centro para el Control de Enfermedades, ha anunciado una suspensión temporal de TODOS los desalojos hasta el 31 de julio de 2021 para evitar una mayor propagación de COVID-19. Según la orden, los propietarios tienen prohibido desalojar a ciertos inquilinos afectados por COVID-19. Si usted es un inmigrante, es posible que le preocupe reclamar protección bajo la moratoria de desalojo. Mientras creemos que el riesgo es mínimo, la siguiente información puede ayudarle a decidir qué es lo mejor para usted y su familia.
¿Cómo califico para la moratoria?
Usted califica para la protección temporal contra el desalojo si alguna de las siguientes situaciones le aplica:
No puede pagar el pago total del alquiler debido a los ingresos del hogar, la pérdida de horas de trabajo o salarios compensables, despidos o gastos médicos extraordinarios de su bolsillo.
Sus ingresos son menos de $99,000 anuales por persona o $198,000 por pareja.
Está haciendo todo lo posible para realizar pagos parciales puntuales que se acerquen tanto al pago total como lo permitan sus circunstancias.
Ha hecho todo lo posible para obtener toda la asistencia gubernamental disponible para alquiler o vivienda.
Si lo desalojan, se quedará sin hogar o tendrá que mudarse con otras personas cercanas.
¿Cómo reclamo protección bajo la Moratoria Temporal de Desalojo?
Para reclamar la protección contra el desalojo, todos los inquilinos adultos deben firmar una declaración que incluye su acuerdo de pagar los atrasos de alquiler acumulados después del 31 de julio de 2020.
¿Por qué podría preocuparme firmar una declaración como inmigrante?
A un inmigrante se le puede negar una visa, el estatus de residente permanente legal o el reingreso a los EE. UU. (como un residente permanente) si es probable que se convierta en una carga pública. La carga pública se define como alguien que depende principalmente del gobierno para su subsistencia.
Porque no DEBO preocuparme por firmar la declaración a pesar de que soy un inmigrante?
Obtener ayuda bajo la Moratoria de Desalojo Temporal no es considerado dinero en efectivo u otra asistencia financiera que pueda contarse en su contra como un beneficio federal para la prueba de carga pública.
El límite de ingresos para la moratoria federal es sustancialmente más alto que el límite de ingresos para la prueba de carga pública. Cuando declara que sus ingresos no superan los $ 99,000 / $ 198,000 anuales, no admite que sus ingresos estén por debajo del 125% de la línea de pobreza federal (Ingresos anuales de $ 32,750 para una familia de 4) y, por lo tanto, no pone en peligro su solicitud de inmigración
¿Es concebible que mi solicitud de inmigración pueda ser negada por firmar una declaración declarando que no puedo pagar el alquiler?
Es concebible pero muy improbable y definitivamentedebería haber una impugnación i legal contra una determinación de carga pública basado en esto.
Recuerde que la carga pública NO APLICA a:
Asilados o refugiados
Renovación de su permiso de residencia
TPS, Visa U o Visa T
Estado de DACA o renovación de DACA
Estado Especial de Inmigrante Juvenil
Ley de Violencia Contra la Mujer (VAWA)
Inmigrantes que ya tienen Residencia Permanente
Comuníquese con Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy para hablar con alguien sobre sus opciones.
Línea en español 800-247-1931
charlottelegaladvocacy.org
Action Alert: New HUD Proposal Would Roll-Back Fair Housing Protections, Enable Discrimination
Posted on
Joint statement with the N.C. Justice Center
This week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released a notice of proposed rulemaking to substantially change its existing rule on “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH),” an important civil rights regulation implementing the Fair Housing Act.
The NC Justice Center (NCJC) and
Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy (CCLA), based on our initial review of the
new draft rule, have substantial concerns and believe it will weaken enforcement of fair housing laws as well
as the ability for residents to challenge housing discrimination and racial and
ethnic segregation here in North Carolina.
HUD’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing
(AFFH) mandate was designed to correct discriminatory housing practices as well
as the lasting impacts of government and privately sponsored residential
segregation. Under the prior AFFH rule, jurisdictions and Public Housing
Authorities (PHAs) that receive federal funding must analyze patterns of
segregation and discriminatory housing practices for families with children,
people of color, people with disabilities and members of other protected
classes. They are also required to take actions to address barriers to fair
housing.
HUD’s proposed new rule is a step backwards in three specific
areas:
First, unlike
the prior AFFH rule issued in 2015, HUD’s proposed new rule does not even
mention the need to address the negative effects of historic patterns of
segregation. Instead, it only focuses on income without consideration of all
the other barriers to affordable housing.
Second, HUD’s
new rule will eliminate the community participation and engagement requirement
that provides opportunities for members of local communities to have a say in
the AFFH process.
Third, the
draft new rule will no longer require jurisdictions to determine what barriers
to fair housing exist in their areas, instead merely allowing them to determine
their own fair housing goals. Public housing
authorities, which serve thousands of North Carolinians and can play a crucial
role in either reinforcing segregation or promoting integration and improving
life opportunities, will no longer have substantive obligations under this
draft rule.
As currently written, the proposed rule will undermine state and local efforts in North Carolina to address systemic and unfair racial disparities in housing, as well as the persistent patterns of racial segregation that continue to create unfair and unjust life outcomes for people and communities of color in our state.
A note from Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy about this proposal:
U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson was in Charlotte this week to announce a proposed rule change that would effectively roll back fair housing protections against discrimination and segregation.
His choice to make this announcement in Charlotte is an irony not lost on Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy. We work with local partners every day to address the systemic inequities that have contributed to the lack of economic mobility in our community as well as the affordable housing crisis.
In 2013, the Equality of Opportunity study ranked Charlotte last in upward mobility among the 50 largest cities in the U.S.Since then, our community has agreed that issues of access, equity and economic opportunity are systemic problems. We must address these problems to ensure ALL in our community have a fair shot at achieving their greatest potential, regardless of income, background, race or zip code.
This rule would permanently weaken enforcement of fair housing laws. Instead of ensuring fair access to housing that is affordable, safe and habitable, this rule would perpetuate the legacy of discrimination and segregation that has shaped the community we live in today.
This legacy is systemic. When the federal government chooses to ignore its role in that legacy, the opportunity to remedy past wrongs and adequately build a community that is equitable for all its residents is lost.
As an advocate for low-income and marginalized people, Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy believes our community deserves better. Join us in opposing this rule and help us protect fair access to housing.
What you can do
Use Your Voice
Submit your comment on this proposal during the 60-day public comment period. Tell the federal government that our community believes in access to housing for all people.
Share this message with your networks.
Encourage others to submit comments against this rule by March 16.
Charlotte was recovering from the Great Recession, which had destabilized thousands of people through job and home loss that eroded financial security.
As a result, Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy saw the overall community need for legal assistance increase by 15%, including an overwhelming need from families facing foreclosure.
The Recession’s effects continued to be felt throughout the decade to shape our community, to define the issues of economic mobility and inequity we fight to address, and to steadily impact the people the Advocacy Center serves today.
As we mark the passing of a critical decade for Charlotte, we’re taking a look back at the work we’ve done to build a more just community for everyone in the Charlotte region.
Then
Our name was Legal Services of Southern Piedmont, a name we had been operating under since 1978.
Number of staff: 19
Now
Today we are Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy! In 2017, we changed our name and celebrated 50 years of service.
Number of staff: 50
Our new name reflects our commitment to providing both individual legal representation and systemic change to advance our mission of pursuing justice for those in need.
Growth to Address Systemic Problems in a Changing World
Since 2010, we’ve launched several projects to meet increased demand for assistance, creatively address the root causes of poverty and support our community’s most vulnerable populations, including:
Veterans Legal Services Project: meeting specific legal needs of former service members and their families to ensure access to benefits earned while serving our country.
Immigration Assistance Project: providing free legal screenings and assistance to applicants in Charlotte’s Immigration Court.
Health Insurance Navigator Project: helping consumers understand their options in a complex, changing health insurance landscape while ensuring access to health care under the law.
Life altering decisions are made every day in our civil legal system that directly impact a person’s chance at a stable life and opportunity.
Despite the gravity of these decisions, no one is guaranteed legal representation in civil legal cases, leaving only those who can afford an attorney with true access to justice.
Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy and legal service organizations across the country fight to provide equal justice for all in a legal system that is currently inaccessible for those who lack the money and resources to navigate it.
Federal funding for legal service organizations through the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) peaked in 2010. The funding increase was necessary to support legal service organizations assisting an increasing number of people while having lost key funding resources during the Recession. Funding has not increased since, despite the fact 25 percent more people qualify for legal assistance today than in 2007.
Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy does not receive LSC funding (learn why), but we advocate for sustained and increased funding for our partners that do, such as Legal Aid of North Carolina.
A 2014 impact report from the N.C. Equal Access to Justice Commission showed that 2.2 million North Carolinians qualified for civil legal aid services and 80 percent of civil legal needs of low-income people went unmet.
Affordable housing and protection from housing displacement
By 2010, the Advocacy Center was assisting families who were fighting foreclosure and trying to put their financial lives back together in the wake of the global financial crisis. When the housing crisis peaked in 2009, more than 12 million homeowners were experiencing negative equity across the U.S.
Today, the Advocacy Center helps families and communities navigate Charlotte’s affordable housing crisis as more people struggle to find and remain in affordable places to live. That assistance includes foreclosure prevention; defense against unfair and deceptive sales and purchases; property tax relief; and impact litigation on behalf of tenants to ensure safe and habitable housing conditions under N.C. law, including a class action lawsuit on behalf of residents of Lake Arbor Apartments.
Welcoming Immigrants into Our Community
Charlotte’s Immigration Court opened in 2008 to serve applicants from North and South Carolina. The Advocacy Center’s Immigrant Justice Program began serving applicants who could not afford legal assistance in the court, which quickly gained a reputation as one of the most hostile in the country.
With the Immigration Working Group, the Advocacy Center began the Immigration Assistance Project in 2010 to help unrepresented people in the court, providing consultation, education and referrals to assist them in court proceedings. Since its creation, it has been a vital legal resource to thousands of people that is not available in most immigration courts.
By 2014, violence and instability in Central America generated a wave of unaccompanied migrant children traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border seeking asylum, safety and reunification with family already living in the U.S.
The Advocacy Center launched the Safe Child Immigrant Project to ensure these children had an advocate.
Without our intervention, these children would have had not have had legal assistance to make their case for asylum, special immigrant juvenile status or other forms of relief they were entitled to receive.
Due to an overwhelming backlog, the first green cards from many of these cases were finally granted in 2018, allowing these children and their families to remain safely in the U.S. without fear of return to dangerous situations in their home countries.
This victory is a stark comparison to the current reality for thousands of children seeking relief at the U.S. border. They will not see the same outcome under current federal immigration enforcement, even though they have endured the same hardships and have the same valid claims for relief as these new green card recipients.
The Advocacy Center fought to maintain public benefits that stabilize families, while also ensuring access to them with increased demand for social support after the Recession, including SNAP benefits (food stamps) and the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Today, the Advocacy Center is still fighting cuts and policies that destabilize families at the federal and state level, while helping families understand what is available under changing laws and policies.
Since 2018, the Advocacy Center has fought changes to the federal Public Charge rule to consider use of public benefits to determine approval for people seeking to immigrate to the U.S. or applying for a green card to become legal permanent residents. Confusion and fear surrounding the rule change has led local families who are eligible to receive public benefits to forego support out of fear. Federal courts halted the rule’s implementation in October 2019, and the Advocacy Center continues to monitor ongoing litigation.
Our Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic is educating N.C. taxpayers on new regulations stemming from federal tax reform passed in 2018, while continuing to help taxpayers protect themselves from scams and fraud.
In conjunction with a new state law changed the waiting period for expunging non-violent misdemeanor and felony criminal convictions in 2017, the Advocacy Center began helping Mecklenburg County residents apply for removal of non-violent, eligible offenses from their criminal records. This project sought to remove barriers to economic mobility that come with having a criminal record. In FY19, we assisted 217 people to expunge criminal records in N.C. and advocated for passage of expanded eligibility for expungements in the N.C. General Assembly.
In 2016, the Advocacy Center partnered with Central Piedmont Community College’s Single Stop program to provide legal assistance that helps students overcome barriers to their education and pursue economic opportunity. In the first two years, the partnership provided $72,855 in legal assistance while obtaining or preserving $103,462 in public benefits for students and their families.
Access to quality, affordable health care
The Advocacy Center has been litigating to ensure families have the health care they are entitled to receive under the law through major cases, including:
Pashby v. Cansler, later Pettigrew v. Brajer: The lawsuit, initially named Pashby v. Cansler, was filed in 2011 by the Advocacy Center, Disability Rights N.C. and the National Health Law Program, alleging that the state violated federal Medicaid law and the Americans with Disabilities Act by determining eligibility for personal care services under more restrictive criteria for people living at home than for those who live in institutional settings known as adult care homes. A settlement was reached in 2016, allowing vulnerable citizens who need health services to safely remain in their homes and have their services restored.
Pachas v. NCDHHS: The Advocacy Center brought the case on behalf of a terminally ill man, who had been the primary provider for his wife, two young daughters, and elderly in-laws. Pachas was trying to support his family on Social Security disability benefits before eventually qualifying for Medicaid benefits that covered his medical treatment for a stroke and a brain tumor. Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services determined Pachas’ income was above the federal poverty level based on the level of an individual, not for a family, and required him to pay a large deductible on his Medicaid benefits. In 2018, attorneys argued before the N.C. Court of Appeals that the state was violating federal Medicaid law in applying its definition of family size to determine eligibility for benefits. The N.C. Supreme Court heard arguments on the case in 2018 and unanimously ruled in favor of the Center to vacate the Court of Appeals ruling. The case is now with the Court of Appeals for a ruling on the merits of the case.
Hawkins v. Cohen: The Advocacy Center and the National Health Law Program filed a lawsuit in federal court in 2017 to stop illegal terminations of Medicaid benefits in North Carolina that resulted in a preliminary injunction and a certified class action. The improper actions included due process violations, failure to reasonably accommodate the disabled, and creating barriers to access for recipients with limited English proficiency. The class action is ongoing. As a result, the state changed its computer system earlier this year to stop Medicaid coverage from automatically terminating when a county worker does not timely complete a required eligibility review. Under this programming change, Medicaid coverage for more than 124,000 cases was extended in the past two months that would otherwise have been terminated without notice.
With the first open enrollment season for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Advocacy Center launched the Health Insurance Navigator project to help consumers understand their options and get the health care they needed under the new law.
Since 2013, we’ve helped thousands of people understand their options and get health coverage, while reducing the state’s uninsured rate. The navigator project has been recognized as a national model and received a visit from Sylvia Burwell, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, in 2015.
At the end of 2019, our health insurance navigators completed their seventh open enrollment season, helping residents in Cabarrus, Mecklenburg and Union counties understand their coverage options in a changing healthcare landscape to select health plan that meet their individual needs and budget.
The ACA included opportunity for states to expand their Medicaid programs and close the coverage gap for low-income people to insure all Americans. The Advocacy Center began advocating for expansion of the state’s Medicaid program in the N.C. General Assembly, which has failed to act. Expansion would insure an estimated 500,000 NC residents who make too little to afford private health coverage but too much to receive financial assistance paying for coverage. Expansion also would have lowered overall health costs for residents and spurred an estimated $2.9 billion in business growth by 2020.
Today we are still urging the N.C. General Assembly to expand Medicaid so that more residents have access to health care. Residents like Allan.
The N.C. General Assembly approved changes to the state’s Medicaid program in 2015 that privatized the administration of the program. The Advocacy Center has been working with providers and beneficiaries to make sure they understand what the change means and how to continue receiving health care. The Advocacy Center is also monitoring the change to ensure access under the law. The implementation of the new program was supposed to take place in fall 2019, but it has been delayed due to the legislature’s inability to pass a budget.
Protection from exploitation
To improve quality of life and ensure independence, the Advocacy Center has worked to empower seniors through education, legal representation and specific services that enable them to remain self-sufficient, their property unencumbered and their finances protected through the Legal Services for the Elderly program and other projects.
The Advocacy Center’s Consumer Protection program has continually worked to protect low-income people from scams and bad actors taking advantage of vulnerable groups who lack access to resources to understand their rights as consumers.
Immigrants have historically been targets for exploitation in our country. The current administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy toward immigrants who are undocumented has exacerbated their vulnerability and stoked fear in families, regardless of immigration status.
For 12 years, Mecklenburg County’s 287(g) program facilitated hundreds of deportations by assisting federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in implementing federal immigration enforcement at the local level. The voluntary program directed police to target, arrest and hold residents living in our community without a legal immigration status.
This practice tore families apart, made immigrants vulnerable targets and eroded trust of law enforcement, all while diverting local taxpayer funds away from public safety to enforce federal immigration policy, which is outside the jurisdiction of local law enforcement agencies. The Advocacy Center has long believed this policy has harmed our community by undermining public safety, depriving individuals of due process, wasting county resources, and exposing tax payers to potential legal settlements.
Mecklenburg County Sheriff Gary McFadden ended the 287(g) program in late 2018 after winning election on the issue. In 2019, Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the N.C. General Assembly’s mandate that local sheriffs cooperate with ICE and honor detainer requests. The Advocacy Center continues to monitor local and state policies that negatively impact immigrants in our community.
In 2018, the Advocacy Center fought against ICE presence in our courts after officials arrested a woman and her 16-year-old son at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse, leaving her 2-year-old child behind in the court’s day care center as they took her into custody and placed her in deportation proceedings. This woman, Maria, and her son are survivors of domestic violence who were appearing for a hearing in their case.
The arrest became part of a national dialogue on how ICE activity in courthouses negatively impacts public safety and the ability for crime victims, especially victims of domestic violence, to seek justice.
The Charlotte Immigration Court later terminated her deportation case with the support of ICE, allowing Maria and her family to remain in the U.S. as they pursued a U-Visa, which provides protected status to victims of crime. The victory came after months of negotiation with ICE through the partnership of Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy, Comunidad Colectiva and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.
In response to increased ICE activity since 2017, the Advocacy Center has partnered with community groups, including Action NC, Comunidad Colectiva, El Puente Hispano and the Latin American Coalition to help individuals understand their civil rights and provide emergency planning for families in the event of family separation through arrest and deportation.
A decade of justice
Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy has covered a lot of ground over the last 10 years, but the gap between access and justice remains wide.
In the decade ahead, Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy remains committed to closing that gap by building a more just community where all are treated fairly and have access to legal representation to meet their basic needs and thrive.
In 2020 and beyond…
We will always fight to ensure
Access to our legal system
Affordable housing and protection from housing displacement
All feel welcome in our community
Economic mobility
Access to quality, affordable health care
Protection from exploitation
While the means to accomplishing our mission will change with the needs of our community, our resolve to pursue justice for those in need remains constant. Because we believe …
justice lives here.
Lake Arbor Residents Urged to Seek Legal Advice Ahead of August 31 Deadline
Posted on
Concerns of residents signing away tenant rights
Charlotte, NC – Local legal advocacy groups are
urging residents at Lake Arbor Apartments to seek legal advice ahead of a
deadline for some to move out by the end of the month.
On July 30, residents
received a notice from Lake Arbor Apartments stating that they must move out by
December 31. Others were told they had leases that had expired or were no
longer valid and they needed to move out by the end of August.
The notice also
informed residents of an “Incentive Package” available for those who choose to
leave voluntarily.
Charlotte
Center for Legal Advocacy and the North Carolina Justice Center are concerned that
residents could be giving up their legal rights as tenants without fully understanding
all their options as the end of August nears.
The groups are
especially concerned that residents who were told they did not have valid
leases and must leave by August 31st, do not understand that they do
not have to leave their apartments unless ordered to leave by the Sheriff,
pursuant to a court order.
“A landlord’s notice
to move out is not the same as a court-ordered eviction,” said Jack Holtzman,
an attorney with the N.C. Justice Center. “Tenants with month-to-month leases
have due process rights like all other tenants. That’s why it’s critical for
residents to speak to a lawyer before making any decisions.”
The
organizations urge all Lake Arbor residents to speak to an attorney even if
they think they don’t have any legal remedies available to them.
The organizations are offering free legal advice to Lake Arbor residents who have been told to move out, asked to sign a release or offered an Incentive Package from the rental company.
Residents should call 919-856-2169 to discuss their options with an attorney.
The North Carolina Justice Center is one of
the state’s preeminent voices for economic and social justice. As a leading
progressive research and advocacy organization, its mission is to eliminate
poverty in North Carolina by ensuring that every household in the state has
access to the resources, services, and fair treatment it needs to achieve
economic security. For more information, visit www.ncjustice.org
Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy (formerly Legal Services of Southern
Piedmont) provides expert legal advice and representation to those who cannot
afford it, but desperately need it, something the organization has been doing
since its inception in 1967. The Advocacy Center serves more than 3,500
families each year who are facing a crisis of safety, shelter, health or income,
while providing committed advocacy work toward policy changes at the local and
national level to impact a greater number of people. Charlotte Center for Legal
Advocacy is a champion for those in need, ensuring their safety, security and
stability. For more information, visit charlottelegaladvocacy.org.
Legal Groups Urge Lake Arbor Residents to Seek Legal Advice
Posted on
Concerns of residents
signing away tenant rights
Charlotte, NC – Local legal advocacy groups are
urging residents at Lake Arbor Apartments to seek legal advice before signing any
document from the apartment community.
On July 30, residents
received a notice from Lake Arbor Apartments stating that they must move out by
December 31, while some were told they had leases that had expired or were no
longer valid. Those residents were told they have only 30 days to move out, until
the end of August. The notice also informed residents of an “Incentive Package”
available for those who choose to leave voluntarily.
Charlotte
Center for Legal Advocacy and the North Carolina Justice Center are concerned that
residents could be giving up their legal rights as tenants without fully understanding
all their options. The organizations urge Lake Arbor residents to speak to an
attorney before they decide whether to sign anything.
Lake Arbor residents who have been told to move out, asked to sign a release or offered an Incentive Package from the rental company should call 919-856-2169 to receive free legal advice and discuss their options with an attorney from these organizations.
Lake Arbor Community Town Hall
Saturday, August 10, 2019 | 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuckaseegee Rec Center 4820 Tuckaseegee Road Charlotte, NC 28208 For more information or RSVP: 980-292-1780 | laketenassoc@gmail.com
The North Carolina Justice Center is one of the state’s preeminent voices for economic and social justice. As a leading progressive research and advocacy organization, its mission is to eliminate poverty in North Carolina by ensuring that every household in the state has access to the resources, services, and fair treatment it needs to achieve economic security.
Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy (formerly Legal Services of Southern Piedmont) provides expert legal advice and representation to those who cannot afford it, but desperately need it, something the organization has been doing since its inception in 1967. The Advocacy Center serves more than 3,500 families each year who are facing a crisis of safety, shelter, health or income, while providing committed advocacy work toward policy changes at the local and national level to impact a greater number of people. Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy is a champion for those in need, ensuring their safety, security and stability.
