(FLORIDA) – When a client in her sixties received a three-day notice of eviction from her local public housing authority (PHA), she immediately felt something was off. The notice cited that the client had tampered with the fire alarm in her unit and asserted that the PHA had to replace a disassembled smoke alarm, as well. Moreover, the authorities provided a bill for the new alarm.
Yet, the client knew for fact that this notice was incorrect. Her evidence? She was not there on the day the PHA cited an issue with the alarm.
Fortunately, the client turned to Florida Rural Legal Services (FRLS) for assistance. FRLS is a non-profit law firm that provides free civil legal aid to qualified individuals, families, and vulnerable communities across 13 Florida counties and to farmworkers statewide. Our most common types of cases are housing cases, particularly fighting eviction actions like the one our client above faced.
A FRLS attorney intervened prior to the commencement of litigation to evict. First, the attorney directed the client to call the fire department and get an official statement that they had not responded to a fire alarm signal on the day sited in the PHA’s notice to the client. Meanwhile, our team reviewed the eviction notice, encountering numerous deficiencies that rendered the document invalid.
Our attorney team ensured that the director of the PHA withdrew the eviction notice and removed all charges associated with replacing the fire and smoke alarms. The client’s case was successfully closed, avoiding a wrongful eviction.
All Things Housing at FRLS
At FRLS, housing issues, including eviction disputes like the one above, are one of the most common types of cases handled by FRLS’s legal advocates.
Beyond eviction, our attorneys assist eligible clients with a range of housing-related issues, including stopping illegal shutoffs, securing safe housing conditions, combatting unlawful fees, defending mortgage foreclosures, and assisting with termination of tenancy. We believe that Florida’s low-income communities deserve the right to safe, stable, and secure housing, and our team regularly advocates to enact this mission.
If you live in our service area and have received a questionable notice from your landlord or PHA, don’t wait to reach out to FRLS. Call 1-888-582-3410 and speak to someone today.
About Florida Rural Legal Services, Inc.