One by one, they arrived, men and women from the neighborhood; a mother pushing a stroller, accompanied by school-age children. By late afternoon, the free walk-in legal clinic, held earlier this month for individuals facing housing issues caused by the pandemic, was in full swing at Unity Square Community Center in New Brunswick.
The clinic, the second in a series, is a collaborative effort between the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA), Legal Services of New Jersey, Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ), Community Health Law Project and Seton Hall School of Law’s new Housing Justice Project. The details of future outreach efforts are under discussion, given the ongoing public health crisis.
Amid the murmur of conversations in English and Spanish and a brief intake by a volunteer, individuals were escorted to tables where about 20 attorneys and other volunteers sat waiting to assist them in filing for rental aid from the state Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and tenant certifications to stop eviction proceedings for low- to moderate-income tenants who couldn’t pay rent between March 20, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2021, as a result of the pandemic.
“There was an ongoing affordable housing crisis that existed prior to COVID, now we have many more people paying more than 35% of their income for rent, which is not sustainable. COVID has worsened that situation,” said Diane K. Smith, managing attorney for the Housing Justice Project and a former NJSBA trustee.
One walk-in at the clinic fell behind in rent after her entire family contracted COVID and had to be quarantined, she said. Through much of the pandemic, the children couldn’t attend school and one of the parents had to stay home from work, resulting in loss of income.
Lori Borgen, director of the Seton Hall’s Center for Social Justice and co-chair of the NJSBA Pro Bono Committee, said there was urgency to file as many rental assistance and tenant certifications as possible before the state’s eviction moratorium is slated to end on Dec. 31.
“We’re coming to what will probably be the worst point. In January, we expect a lot more evictions to be filed,” she said.
Out of more than 52,000 eviction cases that have been filed during the pandemic, only about 17,000 individuals have filed for protection through tenant certification, Smith said.
Jeff Stephens, a staff attorney with VLJ, said they have assisted clients over Zoom, but the chance to meet in person with tenants at the clinic was especially helpful because the applications have to be completed on a computer or smartphone, which not all of them have.
A couple of the attorneys said they could relate to many in the immigrant community seeking assistance that day.
“I was in the same place 10 years ago. I came from Ecuador and was raised by a single mother. We moved a lot because we couldn’t afford the rent. I know what these people are going through,” said Elvis Pinos, an attorney with Lowenstein Sandler in Roseland and a volunteer with VLJ.
“I have had to play this role since I was child,” said Marisol Conde Hernandez, an immigration and criminal defense attorney with the Law Office of Eric M. Mark in Newark. As the eldest and most educated in her poor, immigrant family, she said she was the one “who spoke on my parents’ behalf.”
Now, as an attorney, she has the opportunity “to help little kids who look like me,” she said.
Volunteer attorneys are still needed. Attorneys interested in volunteering should email their contact information to [email protected]. Volunteers will earn Madden credits for work at the legal clinics.