Angela Waldrop, Daily Report (Reprinted with permission)
Mr. S. was a 54-year-old veteran and former long-distance truck driver who was finally ready to settle down in one place. In early 2013, he found what he thought was the perfect Atlanta apartment.
Mr. S.’s first encounter with the property manager was pleasant enough. He toured a newly cleaned and freshly painted apartment and, impressed by what he saw, Mr. S. signed the lease and paid a deposit.
However, on move-in day, the landlord told Mr. S. that the apartment he viewed and paid a deposit for was “no longer available.” Instead, he was given a different apartment with no working electricity, littered with dust and debris, and infested with mold and mildew.
Over the course of several days, Mr. S. repeatedly requested that management repair the apartment, but all he got in response was more broken promises. Unable to live in such conditions and fed up with the lack of results, Mr. S. gave back the keys to the apartment and demanded the return of his rent and security deposit—a demand that was ignored.
I met Mr. S. on a sunny weekend in May 2013 when I volunteered with the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation’s Saturday Lawyer Program. I had first learned of AVLF at the State Bar of Georgia swearing-in ceremony. As a new Georgia lawyer and a native of Atlanta, I was passionate about serving my community and was eager to begin building my legal skills.
Mr. S.’s story shocked me. How could his landlord expect him to live in those conditions, especially given his asthma and other health problems? His case was a clear bait-and-switch, and I agreed to represent him.
I contacted his apartment complex, spoke with the property manager, attempted to speak with the owner of the property, and sent demand letters requesting the return of Mr. S.’s rent and deposit. The apartment complex continued to deny Mr. S.’s claims regarding the condition of the apartment, and refused to return his money even after I sent them photos of the apartment. The complex was adamant that they owed Mr. S. nothing and that, instead, Mr. S. owed them for breach of contract.
With the two sides at a stalemate, I filed a lawsuit against the apartment complex on Mr. S.’s behalf. Eventually, after an unsuccessful mediation, the court found that Mr. S. validly rescinded the lease, awarded him his rent and security deposit, and dismissed the apartment complex’s counterclaim. Even with a judgment in Mr. S.’s favor, it took additional demand letters and the threat of further legal action to compel the owner of the apartment complex to pay up.
My experience with Mr. S. underscores the importance of pro bono work through organizations like AVLF. Only the intervention of the legal system could right the wrong that had been done to Mr. S. But he never could have paid for an attorney. Without pro bono representation, Mr. S. would not have had any recourse against the apartment complex, and the owner would have faced no consequences for his actions.
Cases like Mr. S.’s require a persistent and a dogged determination to pursue every legal remedy available. The reward is the gratitude of such clients as Mr. S. for legal representation that believes in the merits of their case and refuses to quit.
Read the original article here.