Public Employee Press

Union’s legal service
Shield against eviction

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

In her seventh month of pregnancy, Venus Clay, a Nurse’s Aide in Local 420, went on maternity leave and was placed on disability leave when complications developed. But the Queens public housing complex where she is raising her six children never adjusted the rent to reflect Clay’s temporarily reduced income. By the time she returned to work, Clay owed $5,000 in back rent. A letter from the Housing Authority was the only notification Clay received that she and her family would be evicted.

Pamela Jones, a Local 1549 member whose husband and daughter died four years apart, never received the recertification papers for the federal Section 8 program that kept her rent affordable. Her landlord immediately doubled the rent on her Harlem apartment to a so-called “fair market rate” of $1,400 a month. Unable to pay, Jones ran up arrears totaling $11,000. To get out of debt, she filed for bankruptcy. But after paying back rent and creditors, she had just $20 until the next pay period.

After watching her husband succumb to a two-year battle with lung cancer, one Local 1549 member had to borrow money to bury him. Then his life insurance policy was denied. The member fell behind in her rent and owed $10,000. The landlord served an eviction notice last November.

Through no fault of their own, these three DC 37 members — single heads of families who go to work every day — fell on hard times. And they are not alone. DC 37 members, who earn an average of $29,000 a year, are among the millions of hard working people struggling to make ends meet. Many occasionally fall behind in their bills and rent, and some never catch up. They face eviction, bankruptcy and a web of problems that require a lawyer to untangle.

MELS can help
But these DC 37 members have somewhere to turn—their union. DC 37, through its Municipal Employees Legal Services, provides free legal and social services that help members avoid eviction, and points them to charities that can help alleviate their financial burdens, pay off debt and avoid homelessness.

“I have four angels at my union,” said the Local 1549 widow, who asked not to be named. MELS attorneys Bill Whalen and Elizabeth Riday helped stay the eviction in housing court. Legal Assistant Judith Nadal offered counseling and arranged for financial assistance from charities.

“It got to be too much, I was paying the creditors but I had nothing to live on,” said Jones, whose bankruptcy left her broke. “I did not mismanage my money. I had difficulties; I had lost my daughter and my husband.” Jones advised members who need help not to assume they won’t qualify for services and to pay attention to the union newspaper. “DC 37 has great contacts that offer help,” she said.

“My MELS attorney Anette Bonelli has such a powerful and assertive voice. Even with the judge she didn’t back down,” Jones said. “This made me feel I was really being protected.”

MELS represents DC 37 members in landlord-tenant issues that could lead to eviction, including nonpayment and holdover proceedings. They also handle cases of members in private, rent controlled, rent stabilized and Mitchell Lama housing and in Section 8 and other federal, state and city programs that provide subsidies and protections for tenants.

“Members who live within 50 miles of the city should come to MELS immediately if they are served with papers from their landlord,” said Joan Beranbaum, MELS director and chief counsel.

“If members are in financial trouble and in danger of eviction because of it,” Beranbaum said, “we will make every effort possible to prevent them from being evicted and protect their rights.”

Clay, who received help to pay all but $400 of her $5,000 arrears, said, “I applaud ­DC 37, Judith Nadal and my social worker Danny Barr. They were phenomenal. They put me in touch with a network of organizations I didn’t know existed.”

“I was always treated with respect and humanity, never scolded or penalized,” Clay said. “MELS took some of the weight I had to bear and never made me feel less than my worth. Even in my crisis, they are a rainbow after the storm.”