Written by Beryl Dayton, Managing Attorney at The Waterfront Project
Ms. A 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. Ms. A 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 Ms. A had violated her lease by failing to pay utilities, rather than for nonpayment of rent), the landlord argued that Ms. A 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 Ms. A as a tenant!
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Great job on the brief, Josie!