{"id":38800,"date":"2018-06-28T15:16:51","date_gmt":"2018-06-28T19:16:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=38800"},"modified":"2018-07-02T08:33:12","modified_gmt":"2018-07-02T12:33:12","slug":"attorney-alison-yoder-kelley-advocates-for-fair-housing-in-nyc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/attorney-alison-yoder-kelley-advocates-for-fair-housing-in-nyc\/","title":{"rendered":"Attorney Alison Yoder Kelley advocates for fair housing in NYC"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Alison Yoder ’06 Kelley<\/strong> and her husband moved for the second time to accommodate their growing family, she knew full well, she said, that \u201cwe got super lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their new landlords had also lived in Germany, near where Kelley had grown up. Their kids had even gone to the same school that she attended there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had that instant connection,\u201d she said. \u201cThey were very supportive of having a young family move in.\u201d<\/p>\n

That kind of affirming relationship between tenants and landlords \u201cis not how it often goes,\u201d Kelley said, something she\u2019d learned in her years as a housing attorney hearing about and seeing broken plumbing, pest infestations, mold and mildew, water leaks and many other problems that can happen in a New York City apartment.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Alison Yoder Kelley completed a two-year clerkship with the Department of Justice in New York City’s immigrant court before moving into her current position.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kelley works for Lenox Hill Neighborhood House<\/a>, a 124-year-old nonprofit on the east side of Manhattan that provides an extensive array of services, including legal advice. The organization is funded by city, state and federal government agencies and private donors. She manages a load of approximately 30 cases, helping tenants challenge their eviction notices by negotiating in and out of court with landlords\u2019 attorneys.<\/p>\n

There is no shortage of work. A plan announced in February 2017 by Mayor Bill de Blasio provides low-income tenants facing eviction with free legal counsel and representation. The first law of its kind in the nation, \u201cright to counsel\u201d services will be phased in by zip code over the next five years.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s actually a money saver for the city to provide the services, Kelley said. \u201cThe city has found it less expensive to help people stay in their homes than to pay to house them in shelters if they are evicted.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program has been a game-changer. In the past, landlords were represented by attorneys in housing court, while tenants had no representation or represented themselves, which usually meant that the landlord won the argument, Kelley said.<\/p>\n

But now, with representation, tenants have a fighting chance in the court system \u2014 a new dynamic that many landlords\u2019 attorneys don\u2019t appreciate even though dealing with an attorney might be more comfortable than working with a tenant. After all, attorneys who know the rights of their clients and can advocate on their behalf can lengthen and complicate the process.<\/p>\n

As a social work student at EMU, Kelley interned with Blue Ridge Legal Services, which piqued her interest in legal issues: \u201cSocial work and law really go hand in hand,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But negotiation isn\u2019t one of her natural strengths, she said \u2013 which made her current position all the more appealing. Appearing in court sometimes twice a week has shown her \u201ca different side of law than I had previously seen.\u201d<\/p>\n