CASE REPORT:
Stanton Oaks

As seems to be our yearly tradition, our staff and partners at Kilpatrick Townsend took on a complex-wide legal issue in 2020.

A Section 8 landlord notified over half of the residents in the complex that they owed back rent and utility payments—dating back to 2003 for some long-term residents. The landlord claimed that our clients were criminals who were dishonest in an effort to game the system, and that they would be evicted absent immediate payment.

The pandemic had been stressful enough without the threat of losing their housing—and for our clients in this complex (many of whom are elderly), the situation was causing extra stress. Fortunately, the tenant association president (and long-time partner of AVLF) contacted us in an effort to get the balances cleared and again instill a sense of security in the neighborhood.

Kilpatrick did not balk when we told them that 13 tenants needed our help. They immediately formed a team of five attorneys who sought to make the situation right. In addition to regular negotiation with the landlord, the team connected with the clients via group Zoom calls, an outdoor clinic, and multiple socially-distanced meetings in an effort to resolve the matter.

After Kilpatrick’s involvement and the tenants’ own advocacy within the City, the landlord was forced to do an internal review of their operations and systems, which resulted in new property managers and compliance departments. The clients’ balances were cleared—even leaving some clients with a credit on their accounts.

After finally receiving a check from her landlord, a Stanton Oaks resident emotionally told our staff that she appreciates us “looking out for her” because “people don’t look after each other like that anymore.” She even wants to “do lunch” with AVLF and the Kilpatrick team!

Client Story

Ms. Fuller is a hard-working single mother of a son with severe schizophrenia. She had been working at her job for more than a decade and she absolutely loved it — she was often required to leave work early or take the day off in order to care for her son, and her employer was always happy to work with her.

When COVID-19 hit, her workplace shut its doors. Devastated, Ms. Fuller started scrambling to find a new job and was putting in more applications a day than she could count. She would receive interviews and call backs but as soon as she disclosed her son’s condition to them, they would take back their offers. 

Meanwhile, she tried to keep up with rent and afford her child’s medicine because they no longer had insurance. She applied for Medicaid and unemployment, but because of the overwhelming demand, they took months to get back to her. 

After all her savings was depleted, she began to fall behind on her rent and received an eviction notice from her landlord.

Ms. Fuller contacted AVLF seeking emergency financial assistance to help her catch up with her bills. Due to the generous funders that support our emergency financial assistance program, we were able to help Ms. Fuller and her son avoid homelessness and giving her the resources to focus on her job search.