Legal Aid Stops Illegal Foreclosure Eviction, Recovers $1,400 For Los Angeles Couple

A recent Los Angeles Times op-ed piece calling for the right to counsel for the indigent in civil cases recounts this anecdote on a tenant/couple's experience with a scammer when faced with an illegal foreclosure eviction, and their good fortune when a local, non-profit legal aid office took their case:

• Maria de Leon and her husband, Jesus Batista, were on the verge of homelessness when they arrived at the nonprofit Inner City Law Center on skid row. They'd always paid their rent on time and never complained to their landlord, even as conditions in their unit deteriorated. But then their landlord fell into foreclosure and the bank holding the mortgage attempted -- illegally -- to evict the family. A man who had promised to help with the eviction disappeared with $1,400 of the couple's money. Despite their woes, the De Leon-Batista family was lucky. The Inner City Law Center took on their case, stopped the illegal eviction and got the family's money back from the scammer.

For the op-ed column, see Rescuing legal aid (As more and more Americans unnecessarily lose homes and jobs to well-funded opponents, it's time we move toward recognizing a right to counsel in civil cases).