Legal Aid attorneys have been working with Anita* since 2014. Anita was terminated from section 8 by the Housing Authority of the City of Fort Lauderdale due to allegations of an unauthorized person living in her unit. She is a disabled mother of seven minor children (ages 3-15) and she was hospitalized for bacterial meningitis and then later due to a stroke. The father of the children came to the home to care for the children while Anita was sick and then acted as her full time caretaker/aid after she was released from the hospital.
The Housing Authority denied Anita’s requests for a reasonable accommodation for the live-in aid. The Legal Aid attorney requested that the Housing Authority reconsider their decision, and they refused. Ultimately, we filed a vigorous complaint to HUD based upon the Fair Housing violation.
After four years of intense negotiations through HUD, we negotiated a settlement of $35,000 for Anita plus $2,100 in attorney’s fees paid to Legal Aid!
*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of our clients.