Veterans Legal Clinic, congressman and Georgia Legal Service team up to assist vet

Abstract

The Veterans Legal Clinic has successfully helped a veteran and his extended family avoid a winter eviction. The veteran rented a mobile home in August 2018 but soon had problems with the septic system. After numerous requests by the veteran for help, the landlord retaliated with a threat of eviction. Facing a short deadline, the veteran contacted Congressman Jodi Hice's office, which in turn asked the clinic for help. The Veterans Legal Clinic connected the veteran with experienced landlord-tenant attorney and 2014 School of Law graduate Charles M. McCranie at Georgia Legal Services in Athens. The clinic's team also helped Hice's office persuade the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to release over $60,000 in overdue retroactive benefits. This three-way collaboration helped the veteran find the time and the means to arrange stable, long-term housing, without the need for eviction.

Third-year student Anne M. Reynolds and second-year student Patrick D. Testa, a 10-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, worked with Veterans Legal Clinic Director and Associate Professor Alex Scherr to analyze lease documents, research new statutes on retaliatory eviction and pin down the VA's duty to make prompt payment of benefits to the veteran.

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