A Quick Guide to Legal Aid in Petersburg
Understanding Legal Aid Services in Petersburg, VA
As the city of Petersburg continues to work toward a brighter future, free legal advice and services still play an essential role for many of its citizens. Legal aid serves both elders and economically disadvantaged members of the community. All services are offered free of charge, removing many of the financial obstacles that would otherwise prevent these citizens from obtaining quality legal support, regardless of their needs .
Through resources such as the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, which serves nine Virginia jurisdictions including Petersburg and includes the Petersburg branch for all legal aid services, community members can access a wide range of helpful services. Volunteers help clients understand their eligibility and guide them through an application process once eligibility has been determined. Although there are no criminal legal aid services available in Petersburg, there are several civil legal aid services available to support everything from consumer protection needs to domestic situations.
Different Forms of Legal Aid
Petersburg, VA residents have access to a wide array of legal aid services. These services are provided both directly by the local office of Legal Aid Society of Virginia, which is headquartered in Richmond, VA and through other legal aid groups located throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The various services provided by the Petersburg, VA Legal Aid Society range from civil rights advocacy and housing help to family law assistance, expungement, and domestic violence protection. Below, we explore each of these areas in brief.
Civil Rights
Civil rights assistance is available for a number of issues. Legal aid can help with disability discrimination, federal employment discrimination and civil rights abuse. Those who believe that they may have been a victim of discrimination may be able to have their case reviewed.
Housing
Housing services include landlord/tenant issues, eviction defense, foreclosure assistance and rental assistance. Landlord abuse is one of the most common problems experienced by low-income citizens. Expensive housing problems can become a major burden, and legal aid can help address this.
Family Law
Family issues like custody and visitation, divorce, domestic violence and spousal support are covered by legal aid services. This service is not available, however, for paternity, child support, separation agreements, adoption or child custody modifications.
Expungement
Petersburg, VA residents looking to meet legal aid lawyers can receive guidance on the process of getting a criminal record expunged. Not every criminal conviction can be removed from your record, but legal aid services can help you learn your options.
Domestic Violence
To those who seek protection from domestic violence, legal aid services in Petersburg can provide legal representation, safety planning and court advocacy. For assistance, you can also contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
Other Areas
Other types of legal aid assistance available to residents of Petersburg, VA include credit card and debt relief, utility shut-off assistance, and tax relief.
Eligibility for Legal Aid
You are eligible for basic legal assistance as long as you are a resident in the local area, are a U.S. citizen and meet minimum income criteria. The assistance is also available to legal immigrants or other lawfully present noncitizens who meet the income requirements and are seeking assistance on behalf of themselves or a child.
Household composition and income are used to determine income eligibility. Legal Aid of Virginia can only provide aid to those who give truthful reports on income. It will base your eligibility solely on the information you provide on your application – if you are not completely honest and disclose all your income and assets, you may be denied assistance or forced to return funds provided. A unit in a household includes people who are either related by blood or law or are living together. Only full income and asset disclosures are used to determine eligibility.
The maximum income limit considers the entire household unit. For instance, in a household of two, family members are allowed to have an aggregate of $23,540. In a household of four, a family unit can earn an aggregate of $35,850.
An applicant must have more than $500 and less than $10,000 in assets (excluding personal property and personal checks). Assets include bank deposits, stocks and bonds and any other money-generating investments.
Locating Legal Aid Providers
There are several ways to find legal aid providers in Petersburg, VA. Below is a list of resources to help residents in finding assistance.
Whether you qualify for legal aid depends on your income, type of legal issue, and assets. Most legal aid organizations will be able to give you more information on what qualification criteria they have. The following information may help you decide what legal aid options are available to you.
Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, Inc.
100 N. 9th St., Suite 302
Richmond, VA 23219
(804) 256-8850
Website: cvlas.org
Commonwealth Catholic Charities (Petersburg)
3501 E. Washington Street
Richmond, VA 23230
(804) 649-2084
Website: cccofva.org
Virginia Legal Aid Society
134 S. Main St., Suite A
Harrisonburg, VA 22801
(540) 437-3055
Website: valegalaid.org
Greater Richmond Bar Foundation
Electronic application only.
Website: grbf.org
Virginia State Bar
Electronic application only.
Website: vsb.org
Advantages of Legal Aid Services
Legal Aid Services offer a wealth of benefits to those who otherwise could not afford legal representation. First and foremost, these services provide access to justice for low-income individuals and families. By addressing the cost barrier that prevents many from seeking legal help, Legal Aid Services provide essential legal assistance in civil matters such as housing, family law, consumer issues, and public benefit applications.
Secondly, Legal Aid Services contribute to the goal of equal justice under the law. By providing legal representation regardless of a person’s ability to pay, the program upholds the fundamental principle that the law should be accessible to all , not just to those who can afford it. This helps to level the playing field in a system that can often favor those with greater resources.
Furthermore, Legal Aid Services play a crucial role in protecting vulnerable populations, including the elderly, children, and victims of domestic violence. By assisting these groups, Legal Aid Attorneys can help prevent eviction, secure child support, and obtain domestic violence protective orders or injunctions, among other things.
Finally, these services not only benefit individuals, but they also have a positive impact on the greater community. By resolving legal issues, preventing homelessness, and securing access to necessary resources, Legal Aid Services contribute to the safety, stability, and well-being of our society as a whole.
Issues Confronted by Legal Aid in Petersburg
Like many legal aid organizations across the country, those serving the Petersburg area face a number of unique challenges. One of the most common difficulties is funding. Legal aid organizations are often underfunded, which can severely limit the scope and number of cases that they are able to take on. Many groups also suffer from a lack of public awareness; this can lead to less overall support, both financial and in terms of community awareness. Additionally, caseloads, like those experienced by many firms, can be a significant challenge for legal aid organizations serving the Petersburg, VA area. Presently, the Virginia Legal Aid Society is facing a caseload of 14:1.
Case Studies and Their Impact
The success of legal aid services in the City of Petersburg can be highlighted in the story of a local single mother who, with legal aid assistance, was able to successfully avoid eviction from her family home and have an abusive debt garnishment removed from her credit report.
The story begins with delinquent rent payments. While many were not her fault, some were due to her many medical issues: two emergency hospitalizations for lung problems and three months of medically necessary surgery to control a severe pain condition. She also had to care for her school-aged son during these difficult medical events. She had missed work for about a month and thought that she had received proper medical leave care. The rest was attacked by debt collection. Her apartment complex filed to evict her last summer for nonpayment, shortly before she was to begin a high school program to improve her job skills.
The legal aid attorney who represented her was able to get the court to stop the eviction immediately, and within two months was able to have the case resolved with the minimum amount of back rent required. It was important that she did not have an eviction on her record because her apartment complex is privately owned and she did not want to lose her home. We helped her negotiate a payment plan she could afford and after only eight months, she was able to pay back all the rent. She is now caught up with her rent and looking forward to her job training program this fall.
But her story does not end here. The lawsuit filed to collect her medical bills had resulted in a wage garnishment of 25%. This amounted to more than $300 of every biweekly paycheck being siphoned off to pay the debts that largely resulted from her many hospitalizations. To make matters worse, her bank account had been frozen to set aside the wages for the debt collector. A Fair Debt Collection Practice Act violation included an error in the name of the actual debt owner in the suit and accompanying documents. She first learned about the problem when she arrived at the bank after work to cash her paycheck and found it frozen with no access to the money that was in the account. She also had the cost of the eviction filing and her wages garnished which severely impacted her credit.
Legal aid attorney Lisa Bailey stepped in and quickly filed a notice of wrongful garnishment with the court and was able to determine that the original debt owner had correctly served notice on the garnishee of their right to collect the debts. Bailey worked with the law office of McKenzie and Associates, as well as the debt collector to have the error corrected.
Unfortunately, this had little no impact on the situation, as the bank would not release the funds. She filed multiple checks that she had written to various merchants in the community, but without money to cover them, all of them bounced. The garnishee had to be convinced to release the funds so that the bank would honor the transfers of electronic payments and the garnishee then discharged the garnishment. Errors as simple as the wrong name on the garnishment could have resulted in failure to correct the situation for a long time and an additional financial burden from incurred fees and bounced checks.
Not only did she not face eviction, but the error that had shut down all of her access to her finances was resolved. Mistrust has now impacted her credit and she hopes to have it resolved in time for better job prospects once she completes her program of study.
Ways to Contribute to Local Legal Aid
Assisting those in need through legal aid is a huge endeavor that requires the support of the entire community. Individuals and businesses can give generously to support their work. Every year, the United Way of Petersburg, VA collects funds that go towards legal aid. The united way also provides annual funding for organizations that serve low-income families throughout the city. Contributions are therefore appropriate . In addition to traditional forms of charitable giving, individuals can donate time to assist legal aid. Representation of clients does take time, and another way to provide needed assistance is to assist with clerical work or other tasks that help lighten the workload for full-time staff. Legal aid also seeks qualified volunteers for informational events. Donating time on a particular project also serves to improve services.