When Jim moved into his new duplex, he was looking forward to a new beginning. His first apartment was also the first place that was truly his own, so when his landlord began turning his rent away two months in a row, Jim was left bewildered. Each month, he was ready to pay. Each month, she refused to take it. The reason had nothing to do with what he owed: she had simply decided she wanted the unit for herself, and no rent check was going to change her mind.
Jim wasn’t the only tenant affected by the landlord’s plans. Next door, on the other side of the same duplex, his friend Damian faced the very same fate. Unlike Jim, Damian wasn’t a newcomer; he had called the property home for years. When he first moved in, the place was barely livable. Over the years, through his own time and effort, Damian transformed it into a home — improvements his landlord had encouraged in exchange for the promise of lower rent. Now that the work was done and the property restored, she wanted both men gone so she could move in herself.
For a tenant without a lawyer, an eviction filing can feel like the end of the conversation. For these two men, it was only the beginning of theirs. The two arrived at the 7-1 Justice of the Peace court to meet Lone Star Legal Aid’s Eviction Right to Counsel Unit.
LSLA took a careful look at both cases and quickly saw that the landlord had overlooked the law more than once. The filings were full of defects. In neither case had the landlord provided a proper Notice to Vacate — a basic, non-negotiable step that Texas law requires before any eviction can move forward. And in her rush to remove Damian, she had filed her petition against him under the wrong name entirely.
When the cases were called, our attorney stood before the judge in both matters and laid the defects out, one by one. The landlord was defiant, belligerently insisting that the property was hers and that she could do with it as she pleased. The judge saw it differently. The court entered judgment for both Jim and Damian. They were going home.
LSLA’s advocacy did more than keep two roofs overhead, it opened a door to future success. While at the 7-1 court, Jim and Damian took advantage of the wraparound services offered on site. Both men enrolled in a free GED preparation class — a credential that can open the way to better-paying jobs, steadier employment, and further education down the road. For Damian, opportunity arrived even sooner: he walked out with a new job.
For a renter, steady work and a credential like a GED can make the difference between weathering the next unexpected expense and falling behind on rent again. Many tenants never get that far. Improper filings like the ones our clients faced in this story often go unchallenged simply because the people on the receiving end have no lawyer and no way to know their rights. By offering legal representation alongside community resources under one roof, Lone Star Legal Aid helps tenants not only keep their homes, but leave the courthouse better positioned than when they walked in.
*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the clients
Lone Star Legal Aid (LSLA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit law firm focused on advocacy for low-income populations by providing free legal education, advice, and representation. LSLA serves millions of people at 125% of federal poverty guidelines, who live in 72 counties in the eastern and Gulf Coast regions of Texas, and 4 counties in Southwest Arkansas. To learn more about Lone Star Legal Aid, visit our website at www.LoneStarLegal.org.
Media contact: media@lonestarlegal.org