After finding the need for civil legal assistance in the United States is widespread across all income levels — and perhaps spread wider than previously thought — The Pew Charitable Trusts sees a need for new solutions to addressing the problems experienced by many individuals and families.
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Although the legal battle with rent-to-own housing company Casas Baratas Aqui ended with what the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana calls a “groundbreaking resolution that will have national impact,” the bitterness and damage invoked by the defendants’ counterclaims continues to rankle both sides in the litigation.
Read MoreLegal aid received another $50 million boost in funding as part of the new economic stimulus bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday, but while the measure is expected to stall in the U.S. Senate, support to appropriate additional money for legal services appears strong on both sides of the aisle.
In light of the COVID-19 public health emergency, the Indianapolis Bar Foundation earlier this month implemented a new fund called the Crisis Empowerment Grant Program. The fund’s goal is two-fold: to put dollars in the pockets of lawyers who may be struggling to make ends meet while continuing to provide free legal services to central Indiana families through four local agencies.
The Indianapolis Bar Foundation has implemented a new program in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic to put dollars in the pockets of young lawyers while continuing to provide free legal services to the public.
On a typical Tuesday, the Allen County Bar Association’s legal help line gets 40 to 60 calls, but the organization is bracing for an increase as the coronavirus crisis worsens.
One Indiana court is taking steps to better inform its community about changes to eviction proceedings as a result of the novel coronavirus crisis through a personal, virtual message.
A federal lawsuit filed against Rainbow Realty, a rent-to-buy real estate company in Indianapolis, will proceed as a class action after the Southern Indiana District Court certified several plaintiffs’ claims including discrimination, failure to disclose and violating state habitability requirements.
Gov. Eric Holcomb vetoed a measure opposed by fair housing advocates that would have limited local controls over landlord-tenant matters. Holcomb said the language was “overly broad” and, in a reference to the ongoing pandemic, this was “not the right time” for such a law.
A woman evicted from her apartment because of her emotional support cat faced a reversal in favor of her landlord Monday after the Indiana Court of Appeals determined the woman did not provide enough information to allow the landlord to review her request for the animal.
Included in the $2 trillion stimulus package passed by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday is a $50 million appropriation to the Legal Services Corp., which is bracing for a spike in legal needs among those with low income as the economy buckles under the weight of the coronavirus pandemic.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has vetoed a controversial bill that would have prevented local governments from regulating any aspect of landlord-tenant relationships.
Legal aid providers in Indiana are still serving clients as the coronavirus storm gathers strength, but they are worried about the surge they anticipate will come after the outbreak has passed.
Although the legislative session has ended, a Statehouse battle is continuing as opponents of a last-minute amendment that they assert will further disadvantage tenants and renters are lobbying the governor to issue a veto.
Tenant protections that the city of Indianapolis put in place just weeks ago are set to be overruled by state legislation that passed both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly on Wednesday.
Pushing what legislators have so far not been able to stop, housing advocates arrived at the Statehouse Monday hoping to derail an amendment that opponents say would not only further disadvantage Indiana renters but also possibly preempt cities from regulating rental properties.
The Indiana Court of Appeals has vacated an order requiring an Edinburgh antique store to leave its place of business, finding an agreement between the store and the real estate’s owner was a land sale contract and not a lease subject to an eviction proceeding.
A City-County Council committee has advanced two proposals that support Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett’s tenant-protections initiative, despite opposition from landlords and organizations that represent them.
A split appellate court has affirmed for a southern Indiana property owner in a dispute over a former Indiana University fraternity house after the university decided to no longer recognize the fraternity. In doing so, the panel struck down a local Bloomington ordinance that deferred to IU in regulating fraternities and sororities.
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett on Wednesday announced a new city tenant protection and legal assistance initiative that is expected to increase resources for Indianapolis residents dealing with housing challenges that include substandard living conditions, eviction and retaliatory actions by “bad-actor” landlords.
Indiana Supreme Court justices have agreed to hear a case that sharply divided an appellate panel concerning whether minor felonies reduced to misdemeanor convictions should trigger new five-year waiting periods for individuals seeking a criminal expungement.
The Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed a snow removal company sued by a woman in a slip-and-fall case was not required to apply salt to an apartment complex’s premises absent a specific request that it do so.