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HOUSING ADVOCACY

EXAMPLES OF CASES WE HANDLE INCLUDE:

  • Home ownership problems including foreclosure and predatory lending
  • Public, subsidized, emergency and transitional housing
  • Representation of private tenants in select landlord-tenant cases
  • Information and referral for private tenants through the Renters Education and Advocacy Legal Lines
  • Mobile home problems
  • Help for organizations and individuals to create, preserve, and rehabilitate affordable housing

PROJECTS

Affordable Housing Advocacy Project
Community Economic Development Project
Homeownership Project
Renters Education and Advocacy Legal Line (REAL)
Tenants’ Rights Project

Affordable Housing Advocacy Project

The Affordable Housing Project was established to address the housing crisis in Miami-Dade County. The Project advocates for the preservation and development of affordable housing for low and very low income people residing in Miami-Dade County. The Project has two main components.

  1. Preserve affordable housing complexes that are in danger of being lost due to:
    • Uninhabitable conditions
    • Landlords threatening conversion to condominium or sale to a private developer
    • Expiration of subsidized federal funding
    • Demolition or abandonment of publicly funded properties.
  2. Increase development and production of additional housing units that are affordable to low and very low income residents of the target area through legal and policy advocacy.

This Project is funded in part by The Florida Bar Foundation.

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Community Economic Development Project

The Community Economic Development Project provides free legal assistance to nonprofit community development corporations seeking to develop affordable housing and revitalize distressed neighborhoods, and has developed a long term, continuous relationship with its client organizations.

Many nonprofit organizations in Miami-Dade County are engaged in a variety of activities including housing development, business development and commercial revitalization. They need high quality legal assistance to increase their capacity to engage in sophisticated economic development ventures.

It is very difficult for these organizations to obtain adequate legal assistance because they cannot afford the cost. More importantly, very few private attorneys have the expertise to provide the specialized representation required by these organizations. The Project fills this gap.

This Project is supported in part by Funding In Memory of Frances and Louis M. Jepeway.

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Homeownership Project

Low income homeowners in Florida are in crisis because the foreclosure rate is one of the highest in the nation. The Project is responding to this crisis by providing high-quality legal assistance and representation to homeowners faced with foreclosure. LSGMI is “Well known in their work on foreclosure matters, which are often labor intensive and complex.” Legal Services Corporation 2010 Annual Report.

In addition to court representation and filing of Chapter 13 bankruptcies, the Project provides homeowners with alternatives to foreclosure. These alternatives include repayment plans, forbearance and loan modification. The Project also assists homeowners whose homes are at risk due to unfair practices by contractors and prevents the loss of homes due to tax lien, condo lien and homeowner association lien foreclosures, supporting the retention of assets by low income residents and preventing their downward spiral into homelessness.

We also file affirmative cases to get back title for elderly and vulnerable clients who are victims of deed fraud and foreclosure rescue scams. In these cases, the homeowner is defrauded out of title to their home by someone offering to save the home or by someone who forges the homeowner’s name on a deed. The homeowner does not know what happened until they receive an eviction lawsuit on a home they believe they own, or a foreclosure on a mortgage they never knew was on their home.

This Project is funded in part by the State of Florida Office of the Attorney General and Miami-Dade County.

If your home is in foreclosure, please click here for valuable information.
EN ESPAÑOL
Informacion sobre la respuesta a un embargo hipotecario

AN KREOLE
Klike la-a pou ou ka jwen on feye pou "foreclosure"/sezi

Click here for a flier on The House I am Renting is Being Foreclosed. Creole Español

Click here to view video on avoiding foreclosure rescue scams.

Countrywide borrowers to get settlement cash
Click here for full story.

Foreclosure Rescue Scam Prevention
The Federal Trade Commission produced the video "Real People, Real Stories" to help homeowners avoid foreclosure rescue scams.
Click here to view video.

LSGMI Staff Attorney Kimberly Sanchez Featured on Channel 2 Special on Mortgage Foreclosures
Click here to view the video.

LSGMI Senior Attorney Carolina Lombardi Featured on Channel 2 Discussing the Mortgage Foreclosure Crisis
Click here to view the video.

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Renters Education and Advocacy Legal Line (REAL)

The Renters Education and Advocacy Legal Line provides telephone legal advice to tenants with private housing matters. The Project advises tenants on issues such as how to defend their eviction case, request return of their security deposit, and demand repairs of their rental property. The Project also provides tenants with self-help materials which assist them in resolving their problem.

This Project is funded in part by The Homeless Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Program and Camillus House.

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Tenants’ Rights Project

The Tenants’ Rights Project provides representation to tenants facing eviction from rental housing. Priority is given to evictions involving tenants living in government subsidized housing.

This Project is funded by the Legal Services Corporation and the University of Miami School of Law Tenants' Rights Clinic.

Click here for a flier on Tenant Rights and Responsibilities Creole | Español
Click here for a flier on How to Prepare and File an Answer. Creole | Español
Click here for a flier on The House I am Renting is Being Foreclosed. Creole | Español

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