Legal Aid’s Pro Bonos Truly Make a Difference

Sadie owns a home in a rent-controlled mobile home park. She came to Legal Aid SMC for help when the management served her an eviction notice. Nearly a year earlier, Sadie’s roof started leaking so she’d had it replaced. The manager claimed that repairing the roof violated the park’s rules, even though they did not object at the time or for several months afterwards. Patent Litigator David Denuyl, an Associate at Covington & Burling LLP, took on Sadie’s case through our Pro Bono Program.

After meeting with Sadie, her attorney realized that the park’s attempt at eviction appeared motivated by Sadie’s knowledge of her housing rights. After she found out that the park management had been violating rent control laws for several years and overcharging tenants, Sadie openly encouraged other park residents to assert their right to a reduction in rent and a refund of past overpayments. It was only after this that the park management began trying to evict Sadie. As you can imagine, the jury took less than an hour to agree on a unanimous verdict in favor of Sadie, who got to remain in her home!

To protect client confidentiality, all client names have been changed.