A Seven Days article details how some motel owners have kept state-funded deposits that were meant to help the former guests as they left the motels. Legal Services Vermont attorney Mark Hengstler is quoted about helping homeless Vermonters get security deposits that were due to them.
VTDigger also covered the poor conditions of motel rooms and the problem with security deposits.
News
Legal Services Vermont is hosting a free virtual legal advice clinic for eligible low-income Vermonters. LSV and volunteer lawyers will give free legal advice on family-law related issues — by phone, video conference or in-person in Burlington.
Attorneys can answer questions about:
divorce
parentage and adoption
child custody, visitation and minor guardianship
child support, enforcement and modification
post-judgment issues like alimony after a divorce order
In 2022, Legal Services Vermont:
answered 9,211 requests for legal help gave legal advice and information to 4,816 Vermonters over the phone saw 565,282 page views on our legal help website, www.VTLawHelp.org(link is external) helped 424 victims of crime represented 318 households facing eviction advocated for 130 Vermonters who lost Social Security benefits helped 205 Vermonters navigate bankruptcy and debt collection fought for 48 Vermonters to get emergency housing sent 1,250 cases to Vermont Legal AidOn any given day, LSV’s lawyers and paralegals might help someone get heat back on in their apartment or find emergency housing, help a senior reclaim their lost Social Security benefits, help a battered woman get protective orders from the court, or help a family navigate the eviction or bankruptcy process.
The Legal Services Corporation has announced Technology Initiative Grants for 29 legal services providers across the country. Legal Services Vermont is one of the organizations selected for a grant-funded project that leverages technology in delivering legal help to low-income residents.
Legal Services Vermont will create online guided interviews that walk Vermonters through filling out important court forms such as relief from abuse, divorce and small claims.
The guided interviews will provide an easy and accessible way to complete court forms. They will provide simplified questions and help to guide users and ensure more complete and legally accurate filings. Self-represented litigants will be able to “fill and file” the court documents. Or, they can save their progress and print or send links to their documents to themselves or an advocate.
“This project addresses a part of the legal process that can be very challenging for self-represented Vermonters: starting or responding to a court action,” said Sam Abel-Palmer, executive director of Legal Services Vermont. “It’s just one of the many ways we are working to provide access to justice to Vermonters who cannot afford an attorney.”
In a recent LSC-funded project, Legal Services Vermont created video-supported, online legal roadmaps to help solve some common legal issues. (See https://legalservicesvt.org/new-roadmaps.) An earlier tech grant helped make the VTLawHelp.org website more accessible to all online users.
Based in Burlington, Legal Services Vermont is a nonprofit that serves residents around Vermont at no charge. LSV offers a wide range of civil (not criminal) legal services — from quick legal advice to full-scope representation — and community legal education for eligible, low-income Vermonters.
Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is an independent nonprofit established by Congress in 1974 to provide financial support for civil legal aid to low-income Americans. The Corporation currently provides funding to 132 independent nonprofit legal aid programs in every state, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.
Take a look at our Pro Bono E-Newsletter!
The most recent one is always found on our Pro Bono Program page.
Learn more about our summer legal internship opportunities!
We’ve changed the hours when you can leave a message on our legal helpline.
You can leave a message on our legal helpline at 1-800-889-2047 during these hours:
Monday: 8 - 1
Tuesday: 12:30 - 7
Wednesday: 8 - 1
Thursday: 12:30 - 7
Friday: 8 - 1
Or you can fill out our Legal Help Request Form at any time.
We currently have a lot of requests for legal help. We’re returning calls as fast as we can during regular business hours. The new schedule above will help our staff make callbacks.
Look for a call back from a phone number that you may not recognize! Your caller ID might say Legal Services, VT Legal Aid, 802-503-0028 or 1-800-889-2047.
In the Summer 2022 issue:
Why Volunteer? A Statement from Judge Colleen Brown Thank you Judge Brown - From Legal Services Vermont Volunteer SUCCESS: Habitat for Humanity Case Placement Leads to a New Homeowner in Vermont! Rent Escrow Clinic Volunteer Opportunities Direct Volunteer Opportunities - Wills & ProbateThe Legal Services Corporation (LSC) released a brief that showcases the critical role of pro bono attorneys in eviction defense. The findings are part of a congressionally-directed study, The Effect of State & Local Laws on Evictions, to investigate the unmet legal needs surrounding the eviction crisis in the United States.
About one-in-three renter households will experience a housing-related civil legal problem such as eviction in a year, but the vast majority will receive little or no help in navigating their legal issues. Currently, family law cases get much more support from pro bono attorneys than housing cases, even though rental-related issues are one of the most common civil legal problems.
Nationally, landlords are four times more likely to be represented in eviction cases than tenants.
Better leveraging pro bono services for tenants facing eviction is essential to addressing the eviction crisis. Without representation, most tenants will lose their cases and face eviction. However, access to representation flips the odds, with a large majority of tenants who receive legal services able to delay or avoid eviction.
The brief highlights effective pro bono eviction defense projects developed by legal aid organizations and their partners, describes model practices focused on tenant-centered solutions and explores the challenges associated with project implementation.
The innovative pro bono eviction defense programs profiled in the brief include:
Legal Action of Wisconsin’s Eviction Defense Project Legal Services Vermont’s Pro Bono Clinic Project Legal Services of Hudson Valley’s Housing Court and Homelessness Prevention Project in New York Pine Tree Legal Assistance’s Eviction Defense Project in Maine, and Volunteer Lawyers Network’s Housing Law Program in Minnesota.To learn more about each model program and the challenges pro bono attorneys face in eviction cases, read the full brief here.
Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is an independent nonprofit established by Congress in 1974 to provide financial support for civil legal aid to low-income Americans. The Corporation currently provides funding to 132 independent nonprofit legal aid programs in every state, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.
Legal Services Vermont has created a collection of step-by-step tutorials called “Roadmaps” for the statewide legal help website at VTLawHelp.org. The Roadmaps help Vermonters move through the steps of some common legal and benefits issues:
asking the court for a Relief from Abuse order
getting a divorce
getting a security deposit back on a rental unit
starting a small claims case, and
appealing when you are denied disability benefits from Social Security.
The Roadmaps at https://vtlawhelp.org/roadmaps feature step-by-step directions and short, colorful videos.
“We focused on these topics because many Vermonters contact us looking for this information,” said Legal Services Vermont Executive Director Sam Abel-Palmer. “They can be scared or upset about the situation they find themselves in and unsure how to move forward. With the new Roadmaps, they get a good overview of the process, in addition to detailed instructions on what to do to solve their problem. They also learn where to find help.”
The project was funded by a grant from the Legal Services Corporation. The high-quality, motion-graphics videos were created by Sandbox, Inc. of Toronto. The Roadmap text and scripts were created by Legal Services Vermont staff with input from Vermont Legal Aid staff and a variety of community advocates in Vermont. Members of the general public and colleagues at other northeastern legal aid organizations were recruited to provide feedback on the Roadmaps before they were launched.
“The input we received helped us create videos and tutorials that will empower Vermonters who are facing tough situations,” said Legal Services Vermont Web Manager Kris Surette.
Legal Services Vermont maintains the VTLawHelp.org website in conjunction with Vermont Legal Aid. Since the start of the pandemic, traffic to the website and calls to the legal helpline have doubled.
Legal Services Vermont (LSV) is a nonprofit legal services law firm based in Burlington, Vermont. Founded in November 1995, LSV provides free consultation, advice and community education for low-income Vermonters. LSV is supported by a grant from the Legal Services Corporation in Washington, D.C. LSV’s services are available to any low-income Vermonter with a civil legal problem.
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