On Fridays in August LASNNY offices will be closing early in recognition of our attorneys’ and professional staff’s hard work and dedication to ensuring equal access to justice.
For Urgent Civil Legal Matters please call our Legal Line at 833-628-0087 Mon – Thurs from 9am to 5pm & Fri from 9 am to 1pm (shortened Fri hours are for Aug. only)
July 27, 2022 – Attorneys and activists who help clients who cannot afford access to counsel say the pay increase will deepen the type of legal representation available within the assigned system, helping low-income and minority groups to access higher quality representation.
Joanna Davis, a managing attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York’s office in Saratoga Springs, said the pay hike will help protect a person’s right to due process regardless of whether they can afford counsel.
Read more on the Capital Tonight website
The IRS has warned about tax scams which try to trick people and steal their money. Be aware of these scams to help avoid becoming a victim.
In one scam, fraudsters claiming to be from “IRS Online” send emails about “tax transcripts” (a summary of your tax return). These emails have an attachment named “Tax Account Transcript” or something similar. Don’t open this attachment. It is malware that can steal your personal information.
Another scam involves fraudsters calling taxpayers and demanding that money be sent to them immediately. They may threaten the taxpayer with possible arrest due to a supposed failure to pay back taxes. These scammers may ask for payment via phone such as by gift card.
Remember, the IRS does not contact taxpayers by phone or email without first having sent them a letter in the postal mail. If you receive an unexpected call, text, or email claiming to be from the IRS or another tax agency, do not give out any personal information such as a social security number and do not open any attachments.
If scammers get your information, they may file a tax return using the stolen identity. The return may ask the IRS to route a refund to an account controlled only by the fraudster. Avoid this by electronically filing a tax return each year, even if you are not required to file. Scammers may also use stolen identities to file fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits. If you receive mail about a claim you did not file, you can report it to the Department of Labor at dol.gov/fraud.
Tax scams continue all year. More information can be found at https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-scams-consumer-alerts
If you have questions about this or other income tax issues, the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York’s Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) may be able to help. The Clinic’s services are free of charge. You can call the LASNNY Legal Line at (833) 628-0087 and ask for our LITC. The Clinic does not generally provide tax preparation services.
A June 2021 survey conducted by Jefferson Community College found that between 13% and 16% of respondents said they had experienced some form of discrimination in their search for housing over the prior 12 months.
“If it’s 13% to 16%, that seems to be relatively consistent as reported in prior years. Some of the protected classes under fair housing law include sex, religion, national origin or race, and disability,” Matilda M. Larson, a planner with the St. Lawrence County Planning Office, said during the latest St. Lawrence County Fair Housing Task Force meeting.
She said protected classes include female tenants who are experiencing sexual harassment from the landlord because of their sex; persons with disabilities and reasonable accommodations or modifications; and individual tenants who have emotional support animals.
“Those tend to be the three biggest categories that have been identified,” Ms. Larson said.
P.J. Herne, a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, said discrimination could also target people receiving Department of Social Services assistance or those participating in the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, ERAP.
“If you’re refusing to accept ERAP, that is a form of income discrimination,” Mr. Herne said.
Congratulations Damara Fredette!
Damara is the recipient of the 2022 Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York Doris S. Hoffman Outstanding New Lawyer Award in recognition of her outstanding achievements within the profession and outstanding contributions within the WBASNY members community.
This award is given annually to an attorney who has been a member of the bar for not more than five (5) years in honor of WBASNY’s 1994-1995 President, who encouraged new lawyers to become active contributors to their profession and community and showed them how to do so. Damara is a staff attorney at LASNNY in our Albany Office, working with our Reentry and Economic Justice programs.
We are honored to have Damara Fredette as a member of our team.
And congratulations to all of the Award winners & to Deborah G. Rosenthal on her installation as President at the 2022 WBANYS Convention – https://www.wbasny.org/news/
The Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York welcomes Cole Malerba to the team!
Cole is working in our Albany Office as a Legal Secretary providing administrative support to LASNNY’s attorneys and paralegals and assisting them in offering legal advice and representation to low-income households in New York State.
Prior to joining LASNNY, Cole worked as a contact tracer for the NYS COVID-19 Contact Tracing Initiative, as an immigration intern for The Legal Project, and as an ESL teacher for Refugee and Immigrant Support Services of Emmaus. He also graduated from McGill University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History & Hispanic Studies in 2020. Cole enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading, and watching soccer in his free time.
We are pleased that OAG has taken this step, which can only benefit our clients and the other hardworking pensioners who are simply seeking the money they were promised as a part of their employment,” said Victoria Esposito, advocacy director, Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York (LASNNY). “We remain grateful for OAG’s ongoing work to enforce fundamental fairness on behalf of St. Clare’s pensioners.
New York Attorney General Letitia James today took action to protect Capital Region retirees by filing a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, its leadership, and others, for their negligent and intentional actions that deprived more than 1,100 former employees of St. Clare’s Hospital of their pensions. Attorney General James alleges that the Diocese shirked its fiduciary and legal responsibilities to the former hospital workers when it failed to preserve and protect the hospital’s pension. The decision of the Diocese to remove the pension plan from the protections available under federal law, its failures to adequately fund, monitor, or insure the pension, and its resulting failure to administer the pension violate New York Not-for-Profit Corporations Law and New York Estates, Powers & Trusts Law. In her suit, Attorney General James seeks to hold the Diocese liable for the misconduct and recover the pensions that the former hospital workers lost.
“These former hospital workers nobly served their community and cared for the sick, elderly, and vulnerable. But when they retired, they were left with nothing,” said Attorney General James. “No one should ever have to deal with the financial and emotional trauma of losing the resources they were counting on to survive. With this action, we’re standing up for New Yorkers who deserve to retire with dignity, and I will do everything in my power to make sure they get the pension benefits they’re owed.”
In her suit, filed in the New York State Supreme Court of Schenectady County, Attorney General James argues that the Diocese’s breaches in fiduciary duty led to its failure to properly administer the pension that was entrusted to their care. As a result of its actions, the Diocese was unable to fulfill its mission and honor its commitments to the former hospital employees. More than 1,100 former employees lost their retirement benefits, including 650 retirees who lost all their pension rights, and nearly 450 retirees who received a single payment equal to 70 percent of the value of their pension. These former employees served St. Clare’s Hospital as nurses, lab technicians, social workers, EMTs, orderlies, housekeepers, and other essential workers and ranged between 10 and 50 years of service.
Click here to read the entire press release from the NYS Attorney General’s office
Chief Judge Janet DiFiore today announced the formation of the Pandemic Practices Working Group, which will hold a series of public hearings around the state over the coming months to examine the Court System’s response to COVID-19, consider post-pandemic procedures and determine which policies should be kept at the ready if court operations are again interrupted due to an unforeseeable event. The working group is the latest offshoot of the Commission to Reimagine the Future of New York’s Courts, a panel of judges, lawyers, academics and technology experts appointed by Judge DiFiore in 2020 to examine technological and other innovations and make recommendations to facilitate the delivery of justice services and keep up with society’s rapidly evolving changes. Since its inception, the Commission has issued several reports that include innovative proposals.
The new Pandemic Practices Working Group, to be led by Supreme Court Justice Craig J. Doran of the Seventh Judicial District, will conduct a thorough review of pandemic policies implemented by the New York State courts as well as other jurisdictions. The working group will hold its first public hearing on Tuesday, June 7, 2022 at Court of Appeals Hall in Albany, eliciting input from the bench and bar, community leaders and others. Based on its research and the input from the public hearings, the group will release a comprehensive report with its findings and recommendations.
“The pandemic presented, and continues to present, enormous challenges. However, with those challenges come opportunities to improve, via novel approaches, the delivery and quality of justice services,” said Chief Judge DiFiore. “I am grateful to the Commission’s chair, Hank Greenberg of Greenberg Traurig, and to its members for their critical guidance and contributions to date. I look forward to the findings and recommendations of Judge Doran, Hank Greenberg and the new working group members in effectively and efficiently steering the New York State courts into the future.”
“The Commission’s initial task was to help improve the efficiency and quality of justice services during the public health crisis and its aftermath. At first, it was triage: what can the courts do now and in the very near future to deal with the constantly shifting landscape of the pandemic? This new working group is part of the next wave, in which we reflect back on our actions since the pandemic’s onset, also thinking ahead, in preparing for future contingencies,” said Hank Greenberg.
“The Court System did not have the option of shutting down when the pandemic struck in March 2020. We had to pivot instantly, with no blueprint to guide us and no precedent to follow. Now, we have both the opportunity and obligation to look backward so that we may best move forward,” said Judge Doran.
For more information about the Pandemic Practices Working Group/to request an opportunity to provide testimony at the June 7th public hearing, please email [email protected].
Further information about the Commission and its work is available at https://www.nycourts.gov/reimagine-the-future/mission.shtml
A roster of the Pandemic Practices Working Group members follows.
Pandemic Practices Working Group
Chair
Members (in alphabetical order)
A red-hot housing market combined with the pressure of holdover evictions from the state’s moratorium during the pandemic is putting pressure on lower-income tenants across the city, leaving some at risk of becoming homeless.
And the city isn’t the only place facing a crunch of rising rents with a lack of affordable housing options.
In a recent legal filing, Legal Aid, a nonprofit legal advocacy group, estimated that in the Capital Region, 76 percent of low-income tenants pay more than 30 percent of their income toward rent.
“Low-income tenants facing holdovers are in dire straits — pressured to leave their homes because their landlord is selling their property but having absolutely nowhere else to move. Whatever little rental units are available are being put on the market at historically high rents, which most of our clients cannot afford,” an attorney for the nonprofit argued.
Two properties in the city illustrate some of the burdens low-income renters face.
The apartment complex formerly known as Bleecker Terrace on the edge of the city’s West Hill neighborhood is one rental property where rents are rising well above inflation.
The 279-unit complex, now known as Capitol Crossings, was sold in March for $17.1 million, nearly $5 million more than when it was previously sold in July 2021, according to the Albany Business Review.
One-bedroom apartments there previously rented for less than $800, according to reviews online. Under the new management, one-bedroom apartments go for roughly $1,200 and three bedrooms for $1,800, according to online rental sites.
SNAP provides monthly benefits that you can use to buy food at grocery stores and farmers markets. SNAP helps millions of New Yorkers put food on their tables.
The Nutrition Outreach and Education Program (NOEP) can tell you if you may be eligible for SNAP. We can also help you complete and submit your application.
For more information about NOEP and SNAP please visit https://www.lasnny.org/2016/08/27/nutrition-outreach-education-project/
Contact us today. It is free and confidential.
Contact LASNNY’s NOEP today!
Call our Legal Line at 833-628-0087 or contact your county’s NOEP directly:
In other counties, Use Hunger Solutions New York’s search tool to find a NOEP Coordinator near you – hungersolutionsny.org/find-a-noep/
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