Category: Media release

Category: Media release

← Back to Fair Housing

RALEIGH—Legal Aid of North Carolina announced today that it has settled a housing discrimination complaint against Cypress Grove Apartments, a multifamily housing complex located in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Legal Aid’s Fair Housing Project filed the complaint on behalf of a 64-year-old tenant whose rental application was improperly denied because of Cypress Grove’s criminal history policy. The complaint alleged that Cypress Grove, based on its criminal history policy, illegally rejected the tenant’s rental application because of a 34-year-old felony assault conviction, in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA). Cypress Grove denied the allegations and asserted that its actions were not in violation of the FHA.

As a result of the conciliation agreement signed by the parties and approved by the North Carolina Human Relations Commission on November 12, 2020, Cypress Grove has adopted and implemented a new criminal history policy, substantially based on 2016 guidance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Jeffrey Dillman, co-director of the Fair Housing Project, noted that policies that reject all applicants with a criminal history can violate fair housing laws, stating “Cypress Grove Apartments is to be commended for adopting its new criminal history policy, which will review applicants’ individual situations rather than automatically rejecting all applicants with a criminal history.”

Legal Aid of North Carolina’s involvement in this litigation was made possible in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Fair Housing Initiatives Program.

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Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Fair Housing Project works to eliminate housing discrimination and to ensure equal housing opportunity for all people through education, outreach, public policy initiatives, advocacy and enforcement. To learn more, visit fairhousingnc.org.

Media contact

Helen Hobson, Public Relations Associate, Legal Aid of North Carolina, helenh2@legalaidnc.org

Category: Media release

RALEIGH—Our hearts are very saddened at the tragic events that occurred in Atlanta on March 16, 2021. On this day, eight people were killed, six of whom were women of Asian descent. At the core of Legal Aid’s values are humanity, respect and justice. Therefore, we stand firmly against any acts of hatred, racism and discrimination directed towards members of any community. While the motives behind this incident are still under investigation, these killings come on the heels of an increase in violence against members of the Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.

As a law firm, we fight for the civil rights of every client whom we serve, regardless of their background; and we work diligently to address the greater issue of systemic racism and discrimination in all forms. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant increase in documented violence against members of the AAPI community. Grassroots activist group Stop AAPI Hate revealed that nearly 3,800 incidents have been reported since the pandemic started. This is a significant increase in comparison to the 2,600 incidents reported from the year before. This must stop. We recognize that this is a time of great uncertainty, anger and fear for many. We encourage everyone to use these emotions to fuel efforts which move us closer to a reality where discrimination and systemic racism no longer exist. 

We join in solidarity with the AAPI community and members of all marginalized communities in the fight against hate. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those who lost their lives; and, during this time of grief, we encourage everyone to take care of their mental health and seek professional counseling assistance if needed. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, help is available to you. Please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 for assistance. 

We are stronger together, and we will continue to roll up our sleeves and do the work necessary to both dismantle racism and bigotry and promote equity and social justice in our communities.

Clayton Morgan
Chair, Board of Directors

Category: Media release

← Back to Fair Housing

Rocky Mount—Congratulations to the Community Economic Development (CED) team in our Wilson office, which was honored by OIC Rocky Mount at its recent Vision Award ceremony for the team’s work on racial justice and health equity in Rocky Mount.

OIC recognized the team for its contribution to the “Transforming Rocky Mount” cohort, a group comprised of Legal Aid attorneys, the NC Association of Community Development Corporations, OIC’s federally qualified health clinic, and the Steering Committee of the Community Academy, a grassroots group.

Our CED team addressed racial housing segregation, which the cohort had identified as a social determinant of health, by helping Rocky Mount residents address inequitable housing policies and change the way patients are treated at the OIC clinic.

Members of Legal Aid’s CED team in Wilson include Yolanda Taylor, managing attorney of our Wilson office; Alecia Amoo, CED and housing attorney; Jocelyn Bolton-Wilson, CED and housing attorney; and outreach paralegal India Silver.

Special thanks to David Sobie, a paralegal and data expert in our Winston-Salem office, who works with the IT team from the City of Rocky Mount and OIC to overlap our client data with OIC’s patient data.

Category: Media release

← Back to Fair Housing

RALEIGH—In a unanimous opinion published today (see below for link), the state Supreme Court overthrew the eviction of one of our clients, ruling that the local housing authority violated her lease agreement by failing to sufficiently explain why it evicted her.

While the ruling represents a victory for our client, it also strengthens the rights of all public housing tenants in North Carolina, making this a statewide win for housing justice worth celebrating.

Please join us in congratulating the Legal Aid attorneys who worked on this case and our co-counsel, Robinson Bradshaw attorneys Erik Zimmerman and Ethan White, for their advocacy.

The Legal Aid attorneys who worked on this case, which originated in our Raleigh office in 2018 but went on to involve advocates throughout our firm, are Celia Pistolis, the head of our appellate practice group; Andrew Cogdell, former head of our housing practice group, who retired in 2020; Darren Chester, a staff attorney in our Central Intake Unit; D.J. Dore, a supervising attorney in our Durham office; and Tommy Holderness, a supervising attorney in our Charlotte office’s housing unit.

We also thank partners Disability Rights NC, the NC Justice Center, NC Housing Coalition, NC Coalition to End Homelessness and the NC Coalition Against Domestic Violence, all of which submitted a joint amicus brief.

Read the opinion.

Category: Media release

← Back to Criminal Record Expunction

DURHAM · Feb. 17, 2021—The coding collective that created a powerful tool for streamlining criminal record expunctions for Durham residents has received a high honor. Durham Mayor Stephen M. Schewel proclaimed Feb. 15, 2021, as Code for Durham Day during a city council meeting that evening. 

Code for Durham is a network of volunteers that developed the DEAR Petition Generator, a program that takes data from a person’s criminal record and automatically generates the correct, completed forms necessary for the person to petition the courts for an expunction. 

“This tool reduces a lengthy manual data-entry process down to a few clicks, reducing human error and allowing attorneys to serve more people,” Mayor Schewel’s declaration reads in part. 

Code for Durham developed the software in collaboration with the Durham Expunction and Restoration Program, known as DEAR, a partnership of Durham agencies and organizations—including Legal Aid of North Carolina—that helps Durham residents expunge their criminal records and restore suspended or revoked driver’s licenses. 

During the city council meeting, Code for Durham volunteer Celeste Richie gave brief remarks, which included a reading of the following statement submitted by Gina Reyman, managing attorney of Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Durham office. 

The expunction petition generator tool created by the ​Code for Durham volunteers is ​poised to usher in a new era of expunction legal practice in North Carolina ​by helping attorneys quickly and accurately generate expunction petitions for dismissed charges. During ​initial testing at the DEAR office in Durham, Legal Aid attorneys found that the tool can save hours of time preparing a single petition and significantly reduced the number of data-entry errors. Instead of serving hundreds of clients each year, the tool has the potential to enable Legal Aid and the DEAR Program to serve thousands.  

This innovative tool was made possible by the unique partnership of ​volunteer coders and Legal Aid attorneys, working closely for two years, to integrate the nuances of expunction law into a user-friendly design. The selfless dedication and quiet perseverance of these volunteers was inspiring to witness, and the tool’s features have far surpassed what we as lawyers originally imagined was possible. With the guidance of the Code for Durham team, Legal Aid is currently working to integrate the tool into its case management system. We believe that the tool will dramatically expand the volume and accessibility of expunctions to our low-income clients.  

Aptly named, this tool not only generates petitions to expunge old charges but generates second chance opportunities for thousands of our neighbors in Durham and across North Carolina to get better jobs and have better futures. Special thanks to each member of the Code for Durham team. 

—Gina Reyman, Managing Attorney 
    Legal Aid of North Carolina-Durham office 

Learn more 

Category: Media release

← Back to Legal Aid attorney Anna Cushman certified as immigration law specialist

CHARLOTTE—The North Carolina State Bar’s Board of Legal Specialization announced on December 4 that it had certified Anna Cushman, an attorney with our Battered Immigrant Project, as a specialist in immigration law.

Only 4% of North Carolina attorneys achieve this status, according to the bar. To become a specialist, an attorney must devote an average of 700 hours annually to the specialty during the prior five years, be favorably evaluated by fellow attorneys and judges, pass a written exam, attend continuing legal education seminars in the specialty, and be an active member in good standing with the bar for at least five years.

Anna joined Legal Aid as an attorney with our Battered Immigrant Project in 2019. The BIP is part of our Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault unit. BIP attorneys help immigrant survivors of domestic violence navigate the complex maze of ever-changing immigration laws.

Anna recently helped a domestic violence survivor obtain a work permit, a big step towards achieving financial independence from her abusive U.S. citizen spouse. As a result, Anna’s client is better able to fight for the custody of her minor child in her care and establish a steady employment history.

“It is a privilege to serve immigrant domestic violence survivors as they assert the right to a life free from violence,” Anna said. “I am delighted to be certified as a specialist in immigration law after years of dedication to this practice area and to my clients along the way. Given the complexity of the U.S. immigration system and the high stakes for our clients, it is critical that immigrants have access to competent, experienced counsel. I am proud to say this is precisely the kind of representation that the Battered Immigrant Project provides to our vulnerable, low-income, immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking.”

Before joining Legal Aid, Anna spent six years handling immigration cases for a small immigration law firm in Greensboro. She earned her juris doctor from Campbell Law in 2012, and her bachelor’s in political science and Spanish from Wake Forest University in 2008.

She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the North Carolina Bar Association, the Mecklenburg Bar Association, and a former member of the Greensboro Housing Coalition’s board of directors.

Category: Media release

← Back to Fair Housing

DURHAM—Richard Rothstein, the acclaimed author of The Color of Law (2017), will give a free public lecture via Zoom on Thursday, March 18, from 12-1 p.m.

Rothstein’s lecture will mark the launch of a speaker series organized by the Durham Eviction Diversion Program to raise funds for the new Durham Rental Assistance Fund, which will make direct payments to Durham tenants facing eviction for nonpayment of rent.

Lecture attendees who are able to do so are encouraged to make a donation to the new Durham Rental Assistance Fund. To donate, use our online donation form and select “Durham Rental Assistance Fund (Rothstein event)” from the “Donation Designation” drop-down menu. Those who donate $250 or more will receive a free copy of The Color Law by mail.

Following Rothstein’s lecture, Legal Aid advocates will lead a discussion of how attendees can support equality and justice in North Carolina.

Richard Rothstein is a research associate of the Economic Policy Institute and a Fellow at the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. He lives in California, where he is a Fellow of the Haas Institute at the University of California–Berkeley.

The Durham Eviction Diversion Program is a partnership of Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Durham office, the Civil Justice Clinic at Duke Law, Durham’s Department of Social Services, and the courts. The program receives critical financial support from the City of Durham, the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin and the North Carolina Bar Foundation. To learn more about the program, read this article from Legal Aid’s 2017 Annual Report.

Register

Who: Richard Rothstein, author of The Color of Law

What: Free public lecture about government involvement in residential housing segregation in America

When: Thursday, March 18, 12-1 p.m.

Where: Zoom

Register: Click here to register on Zoom

Donate: To support the new Durham Rental Assistance Fund:

  • Click here
  • Select “Durham Rental Assistance Fund (Rothstein event)” from the “Donation Designation” drop-down menu
  • Donate $250 or more and get a free copy of The Color of Law by mail

Category: Media release

← Back to Housing

RALEIGH—Are you struggling to make your mortgage payments because of financial hardship related to the COVID-19 pandemic?

If so, you may qualify for “mortgage forbearance,” which means you may not have to make mortgage payments for a period of time—but you need to act fast. December 31 may be the last day to qualify.

You can qualify for mortgage forbearance even if you were behind on your mortgage payments before the COVID-19 pandemic, and even if your financial hardship is only indirectly related to the pandemic.

Getting mortgage forbearance is easy. Just contact your mortgage servicer—the company that you make mortgage payments to—and tell them that you are experiencing financial hardship related to the COVID pandemic, and that you want to get a forbearance on mortgage payments. You will also need to tell them how long you want the forbearance to last.

If you qualify, you can receive mortgage forbearance for an initial period of up to 180 days, plus an additional 180 days if you continue to experience financial hardship.

If you need help requesting a forbearance from your mortgage servicer, or your mortgage servicer tells you that you are not eligible for a forbearance, we may be able to help. Call our toll-free helpline at 1-866-219-5262.

COVID-related mortgage forbearance is available to struggling homeowners because of the CARES Act, a federal law enacted soon after the start of the pandemic.

Category: Media release

← Back to Disaster Relief

Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Disaster Relief Project is helping survivors of Hurricane Matthew and Florence access recovery assistance for damage to their homes sustained during the storm.

Legal Aid is currently assisting North Carolinians with ReBuild NC Homeowner Recovery Program applications and appeals, and may also be able to help when other legal issues arise during the recovery process.

“Applying for the ReBuild NC Homeowner Recovery Program may not appear to initially be legal in nature, but applicants may encounter issues that Legal Aid can help with,” said Lesley Albritton, managing attorney of Legal Aid’s Disaster Relief Project. “Legal Aid has a disaster relief team with attorneys, paralegals and social workers who have experience with assisting during the recovery process and may be able to help survivors of Florence and Matthew access recovery funds and other resources.”

The North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR) opened applications for the Rebuild NC Homeowner Recovery Program in June to assist homeowners with repairs, reconstruction and/or elevation of storm-damaged homes.

For those applying to the ReBuild NC Homeowner Recovery Program, Legal Aid can help with:

  • Filling out and submitting applications
  • Online filing for those who do not have internet service or an email address
  • Reviewing applications before submission
  • Collecting the documents required to accompany an application
  • Assisting with any deed or title concerns that come up before submitting your application
  • Clarifying past assistance, if an applicant has received assistance from more than one source and is concerned about duplication of benefits

For those who disagree with a decision that they have received, Legal Aid can help by:

  • Talking to an applicant’s case manager to better understand a denial/decision
  • Assisting with writing an appeal letter
  • Helping a client collect additional documentation that may support an appeal

“Our services are free, and we encourage survivors of Matthew and Florence who think we may be able to help to call our helpline at 866-219-5262 to learn more about eligibility and how we may be able to assist with recovery,” said Albritton.

In September 2018, Florence made landfall in N.C. causing significant flooding and wind damage across 34 counties in the state. The storm caused $24 billion dollars in damage, making it one of the ten costliest hurricanes in United States history.

Those interested in Legal Aid’s services should call the Legal Aid helpline at 866-219-5262. Additional disaster relief resources are available the Disaster Relief section of our website.

About

Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income people in order to ensure equal access to justice and to remove legal barriers to economic opportunity. The Disaster Relief Project provides legal assistance and education to survivors of natural disasters in North Carolina and supports community economic development and long-term recovery in disaster-impacted communities.

Category: Media release

← Back to Fair Housing

RALEIGH—Douglas Matthew Gurkins, 34, a Greenville resident, has been sentenced to 28 months in federal prison for using racial slurs against and threatening the lives of a Black American family, consisting of a mother and her four children—a criminal violation of the federal Fair Housing Act. At the sentencing hearing, other Black American tenants who had been victimized by Mr. Gurkins in the same manner shared their stories with the court.

The sentencing is the latest development in a years-long and still ongoing legal effort launched by Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Fair Housing Project against Mr. Gurkins and others on behalf of another Black American couple.

The U.S. Department of Justice, which prosecuted the case, announced the sentencing in a press release on November 23, 2020.

In August 2019, Legal Aid’s Fair Housing Project and the law firm of Brancart & Brancart filed a federal civil lawsuit against Mr. Gurkins; the owner of the property, who is also Mr. Gurkins’ aunt; the company hired to manage the property; and one of the management company’s employees.

In 2017, Legal Aid’s clients began renting one half of a duplex in Greenville owned by Mr. Gurkins’ aunt. Mr. Gurkins lived in the other half.

The complaint alleges that soon after the couple moved in, Mr. Gurkins launched a campaign of racial harassment against them, repeatedly addressing them by using the “N-word”—sometimes in front of their minor grandchildren—and threatening them with physical violence.

The couple allege they pleaded with Gurkins’ aunt and the property manager to do something about him, but no one intervened or even investigated their complaints. Instead, according to the suit, the defendants attempted to evict the couple from the property.

In the lawsuit, it is alleged that Mr. Gurkins’ racist behavior and the failure of the others to do anything about it violated the federal Fair Housing Act. The defendants have all denied the allegations. The case is scheduled to go to trial in 2021.

“We are proud that justice is being served in this case on the criminal side,” said Kelly Clarke, supervising attorney of our Fair Housing Project.

“No one should have to live in fear because of the color of their skin. The Fair Housing Act entitles all Americans to enjoy their home free of racial harassment. Our clients look forward to having their day in civil court,” said Ayanda Meachem, a supervising attorney of Legal Aid of North Carolina.

Luis Pinto, staff attorney of Legal Aid of North Carolina, also works on this case and is counsel of record; both Meachem and Pinto work in Legal Aid’s Ahoskie office. Legal Aid of North Carolina co-counsels this case with Christopher Brancart of California-based law firm Brancart & Brancart.

Individuals may obtain information about fair housing by contacting the Fair Housing Project of Legal Aid of North Carolina at (855) 797-3247.

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Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income people in order to ensure equal access to justice and remove legal barriers to economic opportunity. Legal Aid’s Fair Housing Project works to eliminate housing discrimination and to ensure equal housing opportunity for all people through education, outreach, public policy initiatives, advocacy and enforcement. To learn more, visit www.legalaidnc.org and www.fairhousingnc.org.

The work that provided the basis for this publication was supported in part by funding under a grant with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The substance and findings of the work are dedicated to the public. The author and publisher are solely responsible for the accuracy of the statements and interpretations contained in this publication. Such interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of the federal Government.

Media Contact

Sean Driscoll, Director of Public Relations, 919-856-2132, SeanD@legalaidnc.org