Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati

Jessica Savage, a BakerHostetler legal assistant, played an important role supporting Baker attorneys who volunteered with the VLP to assist homeowners appeal their 2023 Hamilton County property tax increases. "I was thankful for the opportunity to provide professional and administrative support as part of our firm’s volunteering to help low-income homeowners through the VLP”, Jessica said. She noted that the chance to give her time and talent to the community was "personally and professionally rewarding." When asked about the case's impact, she said "Working on the Board of Revisions cases was particularly important because we helped ensure that seniors and families on fixed incomes could remain in their homes." Thank you, Jessica. Your support made a difference in our ability to assist clients.

We're hiring! Legal Aid is accepting applications for an Administrative Law Advocate for our Income, Work, & Health practice group at the Cincinnati office. Please visit our website to learn more. https://lnkd.in/dGFgM-dF #LegalAid #LawAdvocate #Hiring #Cincinnati

Check out the new LinkedIn page for the Volunteer Lawyers Project!

Hear Legal Aid Attorney Nick DiNardo speak with Cincinnati Edition’s Lucy May regarding the rising eviction rates in Hamilton County. Tom Hodges, managing attorney at J. Thomas Hodges & Associates, and Nick Zingarelli, director and chief attorney at the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Help Center also participated in the discussion. To listen to the recording of the discussion, visit WVXU or click the link below.

Over-the-Rhine Community Housing (ORTCH) celebrated the opening of its newest affordable housing project, Vandalia Point, with a ribbon cutting on February 25.?This Northside development adds 52 affordable housing units to the community and was developed in partnership with Urban Sites, and with the support of NEST and the Northside neighborhood. The project joins two others that OTRCH has completed in the last year - Barrister House in downtown Cincinnati and Slater Hall in the West End. Legal Aid Managing Attorney Nick DiNardo, current OTRCH Board President, noted, "While Greater Cincinnati has a gap of at least 20,000 affordable homes, this project is a positive step forward in building much-needed affordable housing."?He continued, "While my work at Legal Aid includes preventing evictions, improving housing conditions, and stabilizing neighborhoods, my service on the OTRCH board also allows me to get to the root of the housing problem: the huge need in our community for more affordable housing.”

Legal Aid Attorneys Stacy Purcell and Stephanie Moes at the Cincinnati NAACP's recent Home Strong Event. Stacy provided attendees with an overview of property tax issues and resources, and shared how people can self- advocate for housing aid programs by speaking to their local representatives. Stacy and Stephanie also gave individual homeowners information about home inheritance and property tax issues, and how Legal Aid can help. ? Thank you to Cincinnati NAACP for hosting the event!

The federal program that provided reimbursement for stolen SNAP benefits is no longer active, so it's more important than ever to protect your SNAP benefits. Your PIN can be stolen with hidden devices on EBT card readers, so read up on how to protect your benefits, as well as what to do if they are stolen.

"CMHA doesn't recognize that if the tenants are doing what's required of them," said Legal Aid attorney Emily Roberts, "the least CMHA can do is respond to an email and say 'Yes, we got all of the documents that you submitted on time.'" Emily spoke to WCPO reporter Bret Buganski about one of her clients, a mother of four who gave CMHA all her documentation on time but still received a housing voucher termination notice. Read more about Emily and the client's experiences. https://lnkd.in/gqC3Tep5

Legal Aid attorney Stacy Purcell's work involves representing low-income homeowners in mortgage foreclosure, property-tax foreclosure, and predatory lending cases. She also frequently represents individuals dealing with Social Security benefit issues. Some of Stacy's most impactful cases include representing homeowners on “Tangled Title or Heirs” property situations, which occur when the legal title to a person’s home is not in their name. She recently represented a homeowner who inherited his home. But, because his mother passed away without a will, the title to the house was still in her name. At risk of foreclosure, he contacted Legal Aid. Stacy helped him obtain housing assistance to reinstate the mortgage and represented him in probate court to transfer the house's legal title to his name. I’m grateful I could help him stabilize his housing and preserve his family’s generational wealth,” Stacy commented.

The Legal Aid Society will be closed on Monday, February 17 for President’s Day. We will reopen at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, February 18.