December 21, 2020

Community Legal Aid Announces COVID-19 Eviction Legal Help Project

Community Legal Aid has received funding to launch a new COVID-19 Eviction Legal Help Project (CELHP) to provide urgently needed legal assistance in pandemic-related eviction cases. The project is part of a statewide deployment of legal services, community agencies, and the private bar to combat the rise of evictions arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout. The project is funded by the Baker-Polito Administration’s Eviction Diversion Initiative.

Community Legal Aid provides free civil legal services to low-income and elderly residents in the five counties of Central and Western Massachusetts. With this project, Community Legal Aid will hire a team of attorneys, paralegals, case managers and support staff to provide legal assistance to income-eligible tenants facing eviction and homelessness in the wake of the expiration of the Commonwealth’s eviction and foreclosure moratorium on October 17.

Legal assistance through CELHP is being offered to tenants who live in households with income up to 200% of the poverty level (for 2020, $4,367 a month for a family of four). Through the project, attorneys will provide a variety of essential services including representation of tenants during mediation and in court. Attorneys are also staffing Lawyer-for-the-Day programs, which are being held virtually. Newly-hired intake paralegals and support staff are the first point of contact for tenants seeking help.

In addition, case managers will work with tenants to help them apply for and access augmented benefits offered by the state as part of the Eviction Diversion Initiative, such as the increased benefits available under the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) Program. RAFT can be used for a variety of needs, including rent or mortgage arrears, security deposits, or other expenses to help a tenant preserve current housing or move to new housing. The CELHP case managers play an important role in the project, as it is estimated that 1/3 of renters owe and are unable to pay back rent due to unemployment or reduced hours since the pandemic began earlier this year.

Jennifer Dieringer, managing attorney of the Berkshire, Hampshire and Franklin County offices of Community Legal Aid, said, “The CELHP funding allows Community Legal Aid to increase our existing eviction defense resources and add critical case manager positions, all of which will allow us to help tenants who are facing eviction and homelessness during the pandemic.”

Residents of Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire and Worcester Counties who would like to apply for assistance should visit Community Legal Aid’s website, www.communitylegal.org/gethelp, or call 1 855 252 5342.

About Community Legal Aid:

Community Legal Aid provides free civil legal services to the low-income and elderly residents of the five counties of Western and Central Massachusetts (Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, and Worcester), and maintains offices in Worcester, Fitchburg, Springfield, Northampton, and Pittsfield. CLA works to assure fairness for all in the justice system, protecting homes, livelihoods, health and families. For more information, please visit www.communitylegal.org.