Client Succes Story from Our Legal Intern!

Written by Beryl Dayton, Managing Attorney at The Waterfront Project

Our client is a Section 8 tenant who was behind on her utilities and a small amount of rent. We settled back in July, but the landlord filed a certification of breach after she fell behind on the payment plan — even though all that she owed at that point was for her utility bill. Our client was able to come up with the money to pay the balance off, but the landlord refused to accept it. Because this was originally brought as a holdover case (the landlord argued the tenant had violated her lease by failing to pay utilities, rather than for nonpayment of rent), the landlord argued that the tenant was not allowed to pay the balance off and remain in the apartment. 

We filed an application for an order to show cause, which was supported by a brief our legal intern, Josie drafted. We received a decision and the judge agreed with our argument that the public policy considerations and special protections for Section 8 tenants outweighed the landlord’s claims that it would be unfair to make them accept the money and keep our client as a tenant!

Because of our readers and supporters, The Waterfront Project was able to keep a tenant in their home and fight for their rights! Your generosity makes stories like this possible.

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Great job on the brief, Josie!