Short Stories from our Volunteers

• I had a woman come into HCP who had just gotten out of the hospital with her new baby.  The baby had been sent home with an oxygen tent because he had been born prematurely.  The woman was very upset when she came into HCP.  Since she had come home she had been having problems with the electricity in her unit.  The electricity would go out a few times a day leaving the baby without assistance breathing!  She had called the landlord to complain but he would not return her calls.  The woman and I filled out an Emergency Tenant Remedies Action so the judge could order the landlord to fix the problem right away.  By the time the woman left the clinic she was crying she was so relieved.
• I helped a Japanese client with a dissolution of marriage. She had migrated to the U.S. and married a U.S. citizen. The husband controlled everything, including how much to spend on food, even after he moved out of the home. The client did not understand that she did not have to eat what the husband said, and the husband did not have a right to come to her home whenever he desired. I argued for and got her custody of the minor child, child support, and spousal maintenance, based on immigration documents husband executed at the time of migration. My client is now independent of the husband and is free to run her life and child’s as she sees fit, without husband subjecting her to verbal, physical, and mental abuse.
• All work for VLN clients are success stories! From phone advice to full representation, they are better off with VLN services. An informed decision is key to a good decision.
• I helped a client with a third-party custody action. She was the children’s aunt and concerned that the father (a recovering alcoholic) was not capable of caring for the children. (The mother had passed away.) I brought all my client’s concerns to the court and guardian ad litem.  The father responded to the court’s and GAL’s insistence that he address my client’s concerns. In the end, my client was satisfied that the father would provide good care for the children, and she agreed to dropped her claim. She was so grateful, knowing that her nephews were being well cared for.
• I provided full representation services to obtain a wrongfully-withheld security deposit. My clients were Russian immigrants. After almost one year of negotiating and litigating, I obtained the return of the deposit. It was a lot of money for the clients.
• At the criminal expungement clinic, I help individuals expunge non-violent criminal records. Most of the time, their criminal “record” consists of cases that were dismissed, where the individual was not even convicted of any crime! However, these cases turn up on a background check  and often are the reason individuals are denied employment or housing. Potential landlords and employers often don’t distinguish between convictions and dismissals (it is difficult to read these records). From my work at this clinic, I am concerned that we are creating a permanent “underclass” of citizens – those who are unable to get a job or housing.  When people aren’t able to get jobs or housing, they often feel no choice but to turn to criminal activity.  I feel I’m really making a difference in people’s lives by helping them file a motion to expunge their criminal record, so they can move on with their lives.
• (From a law student) In volunteering at the various VLN clinics, I have been able to help a lot of people. Some of my more poignant experiences involve getting a fast result for a client. One client had his truck towed and was unable to pay the fine to get his car out of impound because his carpentry tools were in the vehicle. We were able to call the right authorities to get them to release his "tools of trade" to which he is entitled under Minnesota Statute within a matter of minutes. He was able to resume work and to get his vehicle back. Another situation we are often faced with is creditor/debtor relationships. In many cases, a default judgment has been entered because the client is unfamiliar with the legal system and their recourse. We are able to help them file petitions to vacate the improper judgment. In some cases, we were able to make a call to the creditor and get them to stop the judgment completely. Not all cases have such a quick resolution, but that does not make them unimportant. The appreciative thanks we receive from our clients make all of efforts worthwhile! 
• (From a bi-lingual law student) A Hispanic woman came to the Family Law Clinic with her three-year old daughter. She could not speak English very well and was very stressed because her husband had left her and she had no money. (She could not work because she did not yet have a green card.) The woman needed temporary relief but didn't know where to begin, or how she would pay the mortgage. Her husband had already been to an attorney and so the time was of the essence. The most helpful advice, strangely enough, was to alert the client that her husband’s attorney would be representing only the husband’s interests – that she could not rely on him to create the most fair and just divorce settlement. The woman quickly understood that it was in her best interest to find her own attorney. She was so relieved to have an idea of what to do next.
• (From a law student) The best story that I recall was a woman who came in for advice how to modify the child support paid to her.  At the end, she thanked the attorney and told him she felt very empowered.  She was ready to dig in and take on the father.
• I saw a client at LAP whose home was going to be foreclosed the next day unless she made 3 months of mortgage payments (about $1400).  Her remaining mortgage was only $8500 on a home valued at $185,000. She wanted me to review the papers before she signed them.

The buyer was the bank's loan officer's fiancé.  The papers provided that the buyer would buy the home for about $115,000, only $90,000 of which would have been paid to my client after “fees.” Further, the papers provided that my client could continue to live in the home if she paid $1,100 per month for rent (versus the $400 mortgage payment).

This sounded to me like equity stripping.  I advised her not to sign any closing papers! And to request all the paperwork from the buyer so that her attorney could review it.  I then provided the client with the phone number for VLN and for the Attorney General. I think I was able through my advice to save the client her home.