Rural Law Center of New York Inc

We began this program as a collaboration with NYSBA’s Committee on Courts of Appellate Jurisdiction, reviewing applications for low-income clients with potential civil appeals cases that would then be placed with pro bono attorneys. This program now includes family court appeals from 5 counties with 3 experienced appellate attorneys on our staff.

The target population for this program is rural, low-income tenants, homeowners (including mobile homes), and farm producers. Our goal is to provide legal information critical to this population and assistance with USDA farm loans. Strategies in this program include: (1) delivering rural trainings and legal information on homeownership, land contracts, mobile home law and landlord-tenant matters, and 2) providing legal assistance to agricultural producers facing debt and foreclosure on family farms. In 2019, we developed a presentation regarding the newly enacted Tenants Rights Protection Act of 2019, which made significant changes in landlord tenant law to protect tenants in New York State. We were able to provide presentations to organizations and enhance the understanding of the law to the benefit of tenants.

Our case intakes include a significant number of clients with a critical need for assistance when they face debt collection or are victims of predatory lenders. We apply methods to avoid wage garnishment and to safeguard exempt funds.

Our geographic territory includes counties with subsistence level farms and farm families facing mounting financial pressures, such as adverse decisions in USDA funding programs, delinquent loans, unpaid bills to suppliers and farm succession. We have joined with the USDA and provide mediation services as an alternative to the high costs of appealing an adverse decision or as an alternative to litigation.

Recognizing that our rural counties often have a large population of low-income seniors, we will continue to provide direct assistance via webcams in rural agency offices, on-site workshops and pro-se clinics, referrals system with rural Offices for the Aging, and an Elder Mediation program.

Low-income rural New Yorkers come before the small town and village justice courts for many of the legal issues in their lives. Since many of the judges in these courts are not attorneys, the RLC has recognized the acute need for justices to be trained in substantive legal areas that affect our clients. Therefore, we will continue to provide accredited trainings in landlord-tenant law, small claims, and alternative dispute resolution.

Beyond individual casework, our three-county mediation program conducts significant outreach and community trainings. Workshops are offered to community groups, schools and human service agencies introducing the basic theory and skills of the process of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). We have always considered ADR as an integral part of our full range of legal services, and believe that those skills are a valuable component in addressing certain issues.