MALS: Lighting the Path to Recovery

Lighting the Path to Recovery

By CINDY COLE ETTINGOFF, CEO and General Counsel, Memphis Area Legal Services, Inc.

In the darkest nights, the stars are more easily seen and that has certainly been the case for the last two years. As the second poorest large metropolitan area in the country, COVID has had the effect of “breaking the frayed rope” holding many in the Memphis community from a disastrous fall. In some ways, despite the commencement of the pandemic, 2020 was less difficult than 2021 because there was an eviction moratorium in place in 2020. In In early 2021, the eviction moratorium ended in West Tennessee, which was significantly earlier than most other parts of the country. In addition, Tennessee’s landlord tenant law is different than that of many other states. In Tennessee paying rental arrearage does not automatically stop an order of eviction. The landlord’s right to possession continues. Only another court order stops a court order of eviction and that generally requires the assistance of an attorney. At a time when Memphis is deemed the most dangerous city in the country, living in a car or on the streets is more perilous than ever before.

When the eviction moratorium ended, evictions recommenced. It was at that moment that some of the legal community’s brightest stars shone. Through a partnership with the City of Memphis, Shelby County, Neighborhood Preservation Inc., the University of Memphis School of Law, and with the help of some wonderful volunteer attorneys and law students, MALS was able to do what it does best – assist in addressing legal issues related to housing. In addition to pure rental arrearage settlement negotiations and possession issues, MALS also took next steps in serving clients to obtain SNAP, child support, unemployment and disability benefits in an effort to move those currently facing homelessness to a position of stability. In 2021 MALS handled an unprecedented number of unemployment compensation appeals.

As evictions increased this year, so did reports of domestic violence. Memphis was already ranked fifth highest in the nation in incidences of domestic violence. Based on the statistics that show domestic violence significantly increases whenever there is a natural disaster, MALS anticipated a sharp increase in requests from domestic violence victims for assistance when the pandemic commenced in 2020. However, the real surge in requests from DV victims has occurred most recently, when schools and workplaces reopened offering a place of safety for children during the day and allowing mothers the opportunity to leave the home and earn wages.

Our next anticipated case surge is expected to be mortgage foreclose cases, since the abatement of mortgage foreclosures has ended. MALS’ Fair Housing Unit has historically served mortgagees seeking forbearances and

provided housing counseling. MALS is preparing to be able to handle an onslaught of foreclosure cases.

In addition to handling purely legal issues that have ballooned during the pandemic, MALS, as a Legal Services Corporation (LSC) funded organization, has been met with legislative issues that impact LSC’s funding of MALS. The U.S. House and Senate each have proposed bills that would fund LSC and hence MALS, but no bill has been passed. Absent the passage of a bill prior to Congress’ recess for the holidays, MALS will start 2022 with a significant decrease in funding. Once again, our stars have shone. The Bobango family, as chairs of this year’s Campaign for Equal Justice (CEJ), and the CEJ cabinet members have been tireless in seeking financial assistance for MALS from the community and the legal community particularly has graciously responded.

MALS has also had the pleasure of being a partner in the Signature Corporate Pro Bono Initiative. The initiative led by International Paper brought together law firms, interested community members, JustCity, and MALS to work together on projects intended to advance access to justice and improve employability. The first stage of the project has been focused on obtaining expungements and reinstatement of rights. Additional phases will address other aspects of social justice. MALS also remains involved in the monthly Veterans’ Clinic and has recently been in discussion with the Corporate Counsel Association about attorney mentoring programs.

In 2021 MALS served even more clients and, due to lack of staff, sadly had to turn away more clients than previously. The heightened demand for legal services is far from over. In fact, I do not know of a time, other than at MALS commencement, when the needs of the community and the need for funding for attorneys to meet those needs has been so urgent. That need is being addressed in specific discrete areas by our pro bono volunteers. The urgent need for more comprehensive wrap around services is being addressed by MALS’ resident stars, those who do the hard work of serving our community every day. In fact, one of MALS’ attorneys recently went the extra mile and sought agreements that eviction set outs would not occur on weekends because an erroneous or unlawful set out cannot be addressed by the court on the weekend. Another MALS’ attorney not only obtained legal custody for a grandmother of her special needs grandchildren, but also took extra steps to ensure the maintenance of housing and obtaining social services for those grandchildren. COVID brought with it opportunities for new fraud schemes. It also raised a number of issues for low-income taxpayers. MALS attorneys have been addressing as many of those legal needs as possible given our staffing constraints. On the domestic violence front MALS attorneys are dealing with the increase in clients from the Family Safety Center and obtaining permanent or extended orders of protection and addressing stalking.

MALS, with the help of the community, especially the legal community, is lighting the path to recovery for our community. While we know that 2022 will present challenges, with the support and assistance of our partners, funders, and volunteers, we stand ready to address them. 