By Elizabeth Hurley, Legal Director at The Waterfront Project
Our client, Ms. G., suffers from advanced cancer and is caring full-time for her four-year-old grandson who has autism and is non-verbal. Her gross income is limited to approximately $300 per month in Social Security income, which arrives on the 13th of the month. Ms. G. was unable to pay her $100 portion of the rent (the difference is subsidized through Section 8) by the 5th, and her landlord obtained a Warrant of Removal to evict her. Ms. G offered to make an immediate payment of $700, about half of her total arrears, which she received from her family, but the landlord refused to accept it and call off the eviction. The court agreed with our position that the equities favored Ms. G. in that the payment she can make would put the landlord in an even better position than it would have been in under the original settlement agreement. The court issued an order stopping the eviction and ordering the landlord to accept Ms. G.’s payment.