Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York

A Long and Winding Road

Nallaris Fanas is now a citizen of the United States, and she is very grateful to the Legal Aid Society and Brian Wang for helping her become one.

“They helped me a lot,” said Fanas, who is from the Dominican Republic. “I thought I was never going to make it, and he made everything possible for me.”

To hear Brian Wang and Marlene Morales tell the story, however, Nallaris Fanas is responsible. They just facilitated her success. Brian Wang focuses on immigration law and the Upstate New York Immigration Law Project. Marlene Morales works on housing issues. Nallaris Fanas’ case was out of the ordinary in a few ways. The first was the number of problems she was facing. “For her, a lot of factors that affect our clients’ lives sort of came together,” said Wang. These include domestic violence, single parenting, and a house fire in which she lost all of her documents. Equinox Domestic Violence Services referred

“For her, a lot of factors that affect our clients’ lives sort of came together,” said Wang. These include domestic violence, single parenting, and a house fire in which she lost all of her documents. Equinox Domestic Violence Services referred Fanas to LASNNY in the fall of 2012. Fanas was a lawful permanent resident but lost her green card in the fire. “You need that proof to show that you are of lawful status,” said Wang, explaining her Catch-22.

“You need that proof to show that you are of lawful status,” said Wang, explaining her Catch-22. Fanas had problems getting unemployment and applying for benefits for herself and her children. “When I reviewed her case, I informed her she was eligible to apply directly for citizenship,” said Wang.

“When I reviewed her case, I informed her she was eligible to apply directly for citizenship,” said Wang. Fanas had dreamed of becoming a citizen for years but thought she couldn’t do it because there is a $680 fee to apply, and this was way out of her reach. However, based on her income, she qualified for a waiver. “We helped her file the application,” said Wang. “She studied very hard, with the help of her children.” But the story doesn’t skip straight to a happy ending. In the process of straightening out her immigration status, Fanas faced an eviction notice. This is where Marlene Morales entered the picture. “She did everything she had to do. She’s very independent and proactive,” said Morales, who was impressed with her client’s resourcefulness. When facing issues paying her rent, she went to DSS and applied for assistance. “She needed more time.” said Morales. “My intervention was to try to get her enough time for the money to be exchanged. I had to do an order to show cause and reopen the case.” Morales was able to achieve that for

“She did everything she had to do. She’s very independent and proactive,” said Morales, who was impressed with her client’s resourcefulness. When facing issues paying her rent, she went to DSS and applied for assistance. “She needed more

“She needed more time.” said Morales. “My intervention was to try to get her enough time for the money to be exchanged. I had to do an order to show cause and reopen the case.” Morales was able to achieve that for Fanas, and the Department of Social Services paid the money that the landlord was owed. In the meantime, Fanas studied with her daughters for her citizenship interview.

In the meantime, Fanas studied with her daughters for her citizenship interview. Fanas said the work was hard, but she was inspired.

“I wanted to show them that everything is possible if you work hard,” Fanas said of the example she wanted to give her girls. The experience helped her understand the sacrifices her own parents made in raising her.

“I think what stood out to me is she really rose to the occasion,” Wang said of his client. “All along she doubted herself, so it was really a pretty amazing sight to see her passing the exam.” As a citizen, more doors are open to Fanas. She is eligible to vote, and to apply for certain jobs.

These facts help her feel more a part of this country. Citizenship also lends another kind of security. When she was being abused she was afraid to seek help from the police. This kind of misinformation is common, Wang said. People think that if you’re not a citizen, the police won’t help you.

Fanas has many kind words for her lawyers, and for the Legal Aid Society. “He was patient, he was lovely,” she said. She tells everyone about Legal Aid, and three people she referred have already gone for services. “Even on the phone they talk to people like they know the people for a long time. They are very, very nice.”

I wanted to show them that everything is possible if you work hard,” Fanas said of the example she wanted to give her girls.

ENABLING CLIENTS TO KEEP THEIR HOMES

When Sharon Boula received a quit-claim deed in pieces in the mail from her ex-husband, she had no idea he had just tangled her in a complicated knot that could lose the roof over her head. The court order in Boula’s 2005 divorce had awarded the marital home to her. Rather than sign the property over to Boula, her ex-husband, who had abused her during the marriage, ripped the document up and returned the shreds to her. She believes refusing to sign the deed was his way of asserting control over her.

Boula, 51, a resident of Oswegatchie, had little recourse to force the issue with her ex-husband, so she notified the court and followed up on her child support claims against him. Then she did what most single moms with three kids do — focused on the responsibilities in front of her. Legally, her husband continued to co-own the marital home. And since he was the co-owner, judgments he incurred after the divorce, including those for failure to pay child support, created liens on the property.
“This was back in 2005,” said Boula, “when all three children were home. There were times when I wouldn’t eat so my kids could eat. I wanted to go back to school, but there was no way I could afford the gas.”

Boula did not want to go on public assistance, so she worked full-time, babysat, and took on other odd jobs to make sure her children had what they needed. Eventually Boula had difficulty affording the mortgage on the home and applied to a bank to re-finance the mortgage. Refianncing would save Boula over $200 per month on the mortgage due to lower interest rates and the equity Boula had built in the home. That’s when Boula discovered the liens, all against her ex-husband, and most due to child support nonpayment. Boula also was told by the bank that she could not re-finance the property in her own name if her ex-husband continued to be a co-owner.

“I would lay awake at night wondering what I was going to do,” she said. In April of 2013, she turned to Legal Aid. “They didn’t waste any time,” said Boula.

“The first thing that struck me was what a horrible situation she was in,” said LASNNY senior attorney Victoria M. Esposito. “Here was a woman who had done everything right, and it ended up working against her. She was raising kids without child support, making heartbreaking choices between mortgage and food. You shouldn’t go to court to get child support and end up with a lien on your house.”
Esposito could not recommend Boula cut her losses like so much bubblegum in hair. So she put the complicated tangle under a bright light and, with precision and patience, unraveled it strand by strand.
“One of the liens was in her name in her favor, so she could release that lien,” said Esposito, who was also able to make quick work of most of the other liens, too.

Unfortunately, the New York State lien proved more difficult. “Initially, State Tax and Finance were sympathetic,” said Esposito, “but they have rules to follow.”

Esposito knew it would be difficult to go after the ex-husband to enforce the requirement in the divorce decree that he relinquish his ownership of the marital home, as he lived out of state. Then she remembered a part of the Civil Procedure Law that allows a judge to authorize a county sheriff to sign in someone else’s place.

“I’ve only seen it ever used with a recalcitrant spouse in a divorce,” said Esposito. It was the last tool needed to make the tangle fall apart. A judge issued the order, the county sheriff signed, and in December of 2013, Boula was sole owner of her home.

“I sent the info to the State,” said Esposito, “and they agreed to release the lien as he was no longer an owner. Sharon was then able to refinance the mortgage with substantial savings and keep her home.”
Boula was beyond grateful to LASNNY. “They were awesome and Victoria was wonderful,” she said.

“In my mind, it’s there but for the grace of God go I,” said Esposito. “You can picture any regular person, through no fault of their own, having this happen to them. She’s more in control of her life at this point. Sharon was a very easy person to help because she is just such a sweetheart. I was happy to do it.”

Sharon was able to refinance the mortgage with substantial savings and keep her home.

Enabling Client to Keep Their Homes

With a degree in business retail and a full-time job as an office manager, Vera Stokes never thought she would be in danger of losing her home. But when this hard-working single mom fell ill, things started to unravel. A few years ago, Vera was diagnosed with breast and stage IV lung cancers. She also suffers from COPD and emphysema and must use supplemental oxygen 90% of the time. Her illnesses eventually left her unable to work and as the family’s sole breadwinner, Vera soon fell behind on her mortgage payments. Vera says, “The thing is, I always worked two jobs and was never behind on bills, but after I received the lung cancer diagnosis and had to have a lung removed, I haven’t been able to work.” She explains, “I got behind on payments and the bank just wouldn’t work with me. They wouldn’t give me a modification and put me in foreclosure.”

In 2013, Vera was running out of options, so she contacted LASNNY for assistance. Dan Alley, the attorney of record, and Theresa Wells, the case’s paralegal, began investigating options. “At first, we tried to do loan modifications, says Theresa. “We submitted several loan modification packets on her behalf, but the mortgage company was saying Vera didn’t make enough money to support a mortgage.” She continues, “We just kept thinking, ‘What can we do to help this woman?’ ” Dan and Theresa also called in help from Friends of the North Country, a home counseling agency. Kelli Duquette, a counselor at Friends of the North Country, joined the case and thought Vera might qualify for a new state program funded by the New York Attorney General’s Office. Kelli says, “When MAP (Mortgage Assistance Program) funds became available at the beginning of 2015, we decided to pursue this option for Vera.” Kelli continues, “MAP money comes from the Attorney General’s Office; his office received the money as a result of complaints filed against the banks and some was directed to housing counselors.” LASNNY and Friends of the North Country often work in tandem on cases like Vera’s. Kelli explains, “We focus on the paper work, so Dan and Theresa can focus on the legal aspects.”

Due to the team’s hard work, Vera received $40,000 in MAP funds toward owed arrearages. After those funds were applied, Vera owed a remaining $11,000 on her mortgage. The bank agreed to roll that balance into a loan modification program and now Vera pays a very manageable $353 mortgage per month.

When it comes to foreclosures, homeowners often need help navigating their options and rights. Theresa says, “A lot of times when foreclosures start, mortgage companies don’t effect proper service, don’t have legal standing to bring a foreclosure action, or do not follow the rules set out for properly foreclosing on a property. If those things happen and if the Client contacts us as soon as they are served with a summons and complaint, then in most cases Dan can file the appropriate answering papers and in most instances get the foreclosures dismissed. That gives our clients a bit of breathing room and gives us the opportunity to look at other options for them.”

While Vera admits that things will always be tight financially, she says her mortgage payment is now doable. Her taxes and homeowners insurance are escrowed and the payments are deducted from her bank account automatically, making the process much simpler for Vera. “I don’t where I’d be without Theresa, Dan, and Kelli,” says Vera. “Kelli really fights to help you. There are so many good things to say about her and LASNNY, that I don’t where to begin.” Vera continues, “They all worked hard for me and never made me feel any different because of my economic situation.”

“Vera is exactly the type of homeowner Legal Aid wants to help. It’s wonderful to partner with Friends of the North Country to serve our clients in protecting their homes,” said Lillian Moy, LASNNY’s Director. Thanks to the joint efforts of LASNNY and Friends of the North Country, Vera was able to stay in her home; something she says she won’t ever take for granted.

LASNNY and Friends of the North Country often work in tandem on cases like Vera’s.

The walls of Mike O’Donnell’s living room are decorated with pictures of cities and stadiums, and he looks forward to collecting team pennants on trips with his son, Derrick. The father and son do not live together now, but that will soon change, thanks to the help of LASNNY PAI volunteer Mike O’Brien, who just announced O’Donnell won custody of Derrick this March.

O’Brien has been handling O’Donnell’s custody and visitation case since late 2011. O’Brien and O’Donnell are both veterans. The client served in the Army Airborne in Vietnam, and the lawyer served 34 years in the National Guard. When O’Brien retired from the NYS Health Department in 2010, he came to LASNNY with an interest in helping veterans. It was a synchronous moment, because the organization had just set up a counseling project for veterans. This put the two men in each other’s path.

Mike O’Donnell volunteers at the Vet House on First Street in Albany, one of the sites where O’Brien counsels veterans. When Derrick moved from his mother’s house to foster care, Mike lost contact with his son, and he approached the lawyer for help.

O’Brien advised O’Donnell to stay in touch through letters and build a rapport with caseworkers at Schoharie County Social Services.

“Last summer the boy started asking for his father to visit,” said O’Brien. Now, the two are having regular visits, at least every other week, either at the Berkshire Farms facility where he lives, or weekend visits in Mike’s Albany apartment.

After almost two years of living in foster, group and residential homes, Derrick sent a letter last December to the Schoharie Family Court requesting that he be allowed to live with his father and attend Albany High. He wrote the judge that he realizes that no one can help him but himself, and is committed to self-improvement.

The fourteen year old described his sense of responsibility, writing of plans for holding a part time job, and preparing for college. It included a report card, showing a record of applying himself to his studies. But it didn’t directly state what his father and lawyer have said: that the boy is a mentor for others at Berkshire Farms, and is really turning his life around.

“I kept telling him to work hard in school, and he did,” said O’Donnell, who is very proud of his boy’s initiative.

This PAI case is far more involved than most PAI cases.

“I’ve been seeing vets with money issues, vets who need shelter, or need help applying for SSI or veteran benefits,” O’Brien said of his other work for LASNNY. He’s given about 100 hours to this custody and visitation case, helping with bare logistics like transportation for O’Donnell, to the real meat of the matter, case management meetings and court sessions. The investment is paying off, just in terms of the connection the father and son have developed. The potential that the father and son may live together this summer is very rewarding, too.

“Most of the cases you work on you don’t see such a nice progression,” said O’Brien.

The satisfaction appears to be mutual. “I could not have done a thing without Mike,” said O’Donnell, who regularly praises the aid LASNNY offers to veterans.

Immigration case has a happy ending

When Charles Badu talks about becoming an American citizen, his whole face breaks into a grin. LASNNY and attorney Brian Wang helped build that smile.

A native of Ghana, Charles came to this country when he was 18 in 2001, his heart and mind set on becoming a United States citizen.

“My mom would take us on long vacations to America,” Charles recalls, beaming across the living room of an Albany apartment at his mother, visiting from Ghana.

His uncle, a U.S. citizen, adopted Charles. This allowed him to pursue permanent residence and a green card. After he got these, he needed to wait the standard five years before applying for citizenship.
Charles went about his life, assuming his papers were in order. He went to school and he worked. When his grandmother died in 2009, he went home to Ghana to visit family. Upon his return to the United States, nothing seemed out of the ordinary at customs. However, a few weeks later, just months shy of the date he could apply for naturalization, he received a letter requiring him to report for a deportation hearing.

This was not because Charles had done anything wrong. He had applied for permanent residence based on being adopted by his uncle, and immigration overlooked the fact that he had aged out of eligibility.
Charles hired a lawyer to help him unravel the complicated situation, but nothing was resolved. He kept working and attending the Borough of Manhattan Community College. He joined the Air Force Reserve because he wanted to give back to the country that has given him so much. Eventually, early in 2012, he found LASNNY.

“I contacted the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, their trial attorneys, to see if they were willing to work with him on this case,” Brian Wang says.
While researching the situation, Wang found that Badu would be eligible for naturalization under a special provision of the immigration laws that allow for active duty military or people serving in reserves to naturalize regardless of their status. Outside of military bases, this section of the law does not surface often, making the case more complicated than most immigration issues he handles.

“Brian assured me that America was fair and the law was on my side, and I had faith,” Charles says. “My mother said pray, pray, pray, and I did.”

While he was confident that the immigration law read in Charles’ favor, Brian did have concerns.

“Because it was such an obscure aspect of the law it might be a difficult task to convince the government that’s granting the benefits that this is what the law says,” Brian says.

Thus, he enlisted additional aid, asking the immigration liaison unit of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s office to advocate on behalf of Charles. The Senator’s office worked with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to ask for their agreement to administratively close Charles’ deportation proceedings so that he could pursue his naturalization through the military.

With this assistance, and diligent attention to all areas of the case, from educating involved parties on the intricacies of this law, to making sure Charles’ paperwork followed him first to Basic Training and then back to Albany, Charles Badu became a U.S. citizen on August 23rd, 2012.

The work was very satisfying, says Brian Wang, and Charles Badu is very grateful for the help. While Charles sent a thank you note to Senator Gillibrand, he wants this story to thank her and her office, as well as the judge, LASNNY, Brian Wang, and the United States.

“America’s the best,” says Charles. “It has a lot of opportunities. This country really cares about the rest of the world, and never stops helping anybody else, no matter if there’s a backlash against them.”

Lorrie Cleavland is very happy about a very unhappy event. The ordeal that began with an argument last August settled after 11 months of intense proceedings.

“My husband assaulted me and I had him arrested. I went to Family Court to get emergency custody for my 3 year-old daughter, and the court directed me toward the Legal Aid Society,” said Cleavland.

She called the Saratoga office right away and within a day, Joanna Davis called her.

“She was completely comforting to me,” Cleavland remembered, noting that just speaking with her was a huge relief. “When I met her, I felt so much better. She is so wonderful, by the way.”

The feeling is mutual. “Lorrie is a model client,” said Joanna Davis. “She’s one of your dream clients who is really cooperative, listens to the advice given her, and asks questions.”

The case was really rough on many levels.

Domestic violence is never easy, but Lorrie had her leg broken while her daughter was in her arms. As matters progressed, she faced attacks on her character, too.

The respondent still claims she broke her leg kicking a door, and that she was drunk or abusing prescription drugs – despite medical records that clearly show none of this was true.

“Everybody told me this is going to be a really long hard run and I had no idea how long and hard it was going to be,” said Cleavland. “Without the help from LAS and Joanna and the whole team, I don’t know if I would have been able to do it. I don’t know if I would have just thrown in the towel, and said forget it, I can’t do this.”

The support was critical both emotionally and financially. Without LASNNY, she could not have afforded a lawyer, but the services she received extended beyond practical necessities.

“She was always trying to make me feel better,” Cleavland said of Davis. “Joanna was incredible in court. You walk into court with an abuser, and you try to hold your head up high and it’s really hard not to not feel intimidated.”

Davis, however, assured her that it was okay to be upset and hold her head up high. “You’re better than this,” is one of the things Davis said. And, “just think about the outcome.”

Keeping her eyes on the prize paid off. Cleavland now has a 5-year stay away Order of Protection, sole legal and sole physical custody, and supervised visitation for Dad. Other problems led to adding on therapeutic visitation to supervised visits, and the father is required to take anger management and parenting courses.

Domestic Violence law is Joanna Davis’ passion. While attending Albany Law, Davis participated in the Domestic Violence clinic and that’s really where she found her niche. She discovered she liked matrimonial and family law during law school, and the clinic narrowed that interest. Her attraction to this area was so clear that she knew if she went into private practice, she’d have to do a lot of pro bono work to address her calling. She was hired at LASNNY in 2005, before she officially passed the bar.

“We need to do good with our degrees,” said Davis. Following that sense of duty has paid off with great job satisfaction.

“The camaraderie between the domestic violence service providers, and the other staff attorneys in the organizations that do domestic violence work is wonderful,” said Davis.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and that community is more poised than usual to give a voice to men and women who experience domestic violence.

“All the power and control is taken away from our clients,” said Davis. “It’s our job to give that power and control back, so that they get to decide how they want to live their lives.”

Lorrie Cleavland tells everyone she can about how Legal Aid eased the stress of her situation. This opportunity to tell her story for the newsletter is another chance to thank Joanna Davis and the agency.

“I’m looking forward to paying it forward, because this is the least I can do,” she said.

Note: Brenna Sharp helped on this case, serving for Neglect Proceedings in Family Court.