The Hampden County Housing Court Project provides pro bono representation to indigent tenants and landlords on eviction day. The Project was created in response to the Hampden County Housing Court’s plea to local attorneys to help reduce the number of unrepresented people in Housing Court on eviction day. The Western Massachusetts Committee of the Women’s Bar Association, working with the judges and staff of the Housing Court and the law Firm of Heisler, Feldman, McCormick & Garrow, created a training and mentoring program. The attorneys involved in the project have represented well over 80 clients in eviction matters before the Western Division of the Housing Court with the goal of tenancy preservation.

As the Project moves into its second year, its goal is to double the number of attorneys participating and to fold into the program students from Western New England College School of Law to perform intake and certain supervised legal functions through a consumer/housing court clinic.

There are many success stories to report. One in particular involved a family being evicted for non-payment of rent. In this matter, both the landlord and the tenants were eligible for representation through the Project. Counsel for the tenants identified and raised a variety of counter-claims, including claims for breach of the warranties of habitability and of quiet enjoyment. The landlord, in addition to being indigent, had a disability that prevented him from negotiating on his own behalf. Without counsel, it is probable that he would have lost his home and been rendered homeless. Counsel for the landlord assisted him in understanding his exposure and in guiding him through the complicated negotiations. The parties deliberated over the course of several months and reached a settlement which included six months of free rent while the family found a more appropriate living space. While they continued to live in the apartment, the landlord began correcting some of the conditions as the parties had agreed. Ultimately, the family was able to save enough money to pay a first and last month’s rent for a new apartment. The landlord was able to remain in his home and continue the process of addressing the conditions which needed to be corrected. The Housing Court Judge acknowledged that the results in this action provided a “win-win” for the parties and that without the representation provided through this Project, the results would have more than likely been devastating for both the tenants and the landlord.

Contact:
Elisabeth J. Medvedow | WBF Executive Director | medvedow@womensbar.org