News and stories about our work advancing civil legal rights for low-income Texans.
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Houston, TX – In every large city in America, a small amount of housing is reserved for the poor, but it’s usually located in poor neighborhoods: with poor access to transportation, groceries, and jobs. Luckily, conditions improve when neighborhoods gentrify, except long-term residents don’t usually benefit from the improvements. Rising rents usually force out them, thereby continuing a cycle of […]
The CDC order that stops evictions for nonpayment of rent has been extended to the end of June 2021. In order to get this protection from eviction, tenants are required to submit a declaration to their landlord. Below you will find a declaration in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese: DECLARATION (ENGLISH); DECLARATION (SPANISH); AND DECLARATION (VIETNAMESE). Please review the declaration carefully and […]
Houston, TX – Lone Star Legal Aid is honored to recognize two women that have received prestigious awards during Women’s History Month. Both of these women are making changes within the civil justice system to restore human dignity, heal broken lives, and enhance safety, civility, justice, and equity through their work. Sonia Lopez, Director of Innovative Planning at LSLA, was […]
Did you know that as of January 1, 2021, there have been new Rules of Civil Procedure in Texas? These changes impact all parties in a lawsuit and require information to be shared with the other parties at the beginning of a lawsuit. If the information is not shared by the deadline stated in the new rules, there are consequences. […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Houston, TX – Lone Star Legal Aid is excited to announce it has received a charitable donation from Powered By People on behalf of the Eviction Defense Coalition. Powered By People is a grassroots organization led by former congressman, Beto O’Rourke, that has set forth to mobilize volunteers and raise money to support Texas families. The Covid-19 […]
On February 23, 2021, The Equal Justice Works announced the first ever Disaster Relilience Month set for March. A collaborative of organizations has teamed up to spread awareness about disaster-related challenges and offer resources for disaster preparedness and recovery efforts. Throughout March, Lone Star Legal Aid will join Equal Justice Works, the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, the American […]
Jasmine Melian, a physical therapist assistant at a Houston inpatient rehabilitation hospital, was at work last week when her children and 2 month old grandson lost power at the onset of Texas Winter Storm Uri. They immediately sought shelter with a relative and Jasmine joined them after she got off of work, and together they awaited the return of power. […]
JOINT PRESS RELEASE February 23, 2021 AUSTIN—The State Bar of Texas, the American Bar Association, and legal aid providers across the state remind Texans that a toll-free legal assistance hotline is available to low-income individuals and families affected by the Texas winter storm that began February 11. The hotline—800-504-7030—is available in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese and connects low-income individuals affected […]
HOUSTON (Jan. 20, 2021) — Residents of Northeast Houston are calling on the company responsible for decades of creosote contamination in their community to move them out of harm’s way after the state of Texas found high numbers of childhood cancers. The Department of State Health Services’ findings come 13 months after it identified 10 census tracts in Houston’s 5th […]
Houston, TX – Lone Star Legal Aid is excited to announce the launch of the new Texas Crime Victim Legal Assistance Network website (“Network”). The fresh face website features new functions for both partners and survivors, and a more user-friendly interface for the dashboard. In addition to the upgrades being made to the existing features, there is also a new […]
Houston, Texas – Lone Star Legal Aid is hosting a Facebook Live event on Thursday, December 10, 2020, at 12:00 PM CST to discuss the Center for Disease Control and Prevention order preventing eviction for the remainder of 2020. As the end of the year rounds the corner, Texas tenants are anxious about their rights in eviction cases. The federal […]
The Coastal Texas Study is a proposal from the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to spend approximately $20 billion to protect the Texas Gulf Coast from flooding during storms and from rising sea levels. Its impacts will be broad, and affect many aspects of life on the Gulf Coast. The US Army Corps of Engineers recently released a “Draft […]
Houston, TX- Lone Star Legal Aid joins #GivingTuesday, the national day of giving. Occurring this year on December 1st, #GivingTuesday is held annually on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday to kick off the holiday giving season and inspire people to collaborate on improving their local communities and to give back […]
Houston, TX – Lone Star Legal Aid has been awarded a $40,000 grant from the Texas Bar Foundation that will support its Eviction Right to Counsel initiative. The concept of the program came to fruition after the pandemic pushed Houston and the rest of America into an eviction crisis. The Eviction Right to Counsel initiative (ER2C) is similar to a […]
Every year, Texas Veterans Legal Aid Week offers the opportunity for legal aid programs, bar associations, law schools, and more, to amplify awareness of civil legal aid available to veterans. This year, LSLA is excited to announce that it is part of the Texas Veterans Legal Coalition working with several other legal aid programs throughout the state to create educational […]
Texas legal aid providers collaborate on one-stop-shop to support Texas renters Millions of Texans are struggling to pay rent and face possible evictions. Stop TX Eviction, a new online portal, is a guide to help tenants understand their legal rights and the remedies available to keep them housed. A project of Texas’ three primary legal aid providers, Stop TX Eviction […]
Thanks to the generous support of the Legal Services Corporation, Lone Star Legal Aid (LSLA) is proud to announce two important online tools through the new Texas Disaster Legal Help portal to help Texans affected by Hurricane Harvey. Developed in partnership with Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas (LANWT) and Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA), these tools will be available statewide […]
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an order on Tuesday, September 1, 2020, protecting low to moderate-income renters from eviction for nonpayment of rent throughout the remainder of 2020. The order’s eviction moratorium protects only renters who meet all of the following: The renter must expect to earn no more than $99,000 in annual income in 2020 […]
Houston, TX – Lone Star Legal Aid is working with a coalition of eviction defenders in partnership with Harris County and the City of Houston to offer a pilot program, the Eviction Right to Counsel Project, in certain jurisdictions – on a small scale. The coalition is comprised of Lone Star Legal Aid, Houston Volunteer Lawyers, South Texas College of […]
Houston, Texas – Lone Star Legal Aid is hosting a Facebook Live event on Wednesday, September 2, 2020, at 1:00 PM CST to discuss the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s order preventing eviction for the remainder of 2020. Leaders in their field, Dana Karni, manager of LSLA’s Eviction Right to Counsel Project, and Jon-Ross Trevino, manager of LSLA’s Houston […]