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SeniorLAW Center's
Homeowners Assistance Program:
Helping
Seniors Remain in Safe, Habitable Homes
by
Marta A. Brooks, Esq.,
Homeowners
Assistance Program Coordinator
Philadelphia is a City of homeowners, particularly elderly
homeowners. For over
eight years, SeniorLAW Center's Homeowners
Assistance Program (HAP) has been helping low-income seniors in
North and West Philadelphia remain in safe, habitable homes.
HAP is a special program within SeniorLAW Center focusing on the
legal needs of elderly homeowners, which provides direct legal
representation, community-based legal clinics, advice, information
and referral services, community education, professional training
and advocacy on housing issues affecting older homeowners.
SeniorLAW Center launched HAP in 1992 with the support of The Pew
Charitable Trusts.
Over the years, the legal issues HAP assists with have
expanded to meet the changing needs of Philadelphia's low-income
seniors. HAP assists
with a laundry list of homeowner issues, including home repair
contractor fraud, code enforcement violations, property damage,
legal problems involving mortgages, Probate of Estates, deed
transfers, and Wills. Most
of HAP's cases involve home repair contractor fraud and clearing
title to property through Probate of an Estate and a subsequent
deed transfer, so a person can become the record owner of the
property in which they live.
The elderly are prime targets for home repair contractor
fraud since many have paid off the mortgage on their home, they
are often trusting of those who approach them with offers to do
home repair work, and unfortunately, they often pay in full before
the work even starts. HAP
assists seniors having problems with a contractor by negotiating
with the contractor and, if necessary, suing the contractor in
court. HAP also
educates seniors about what an estimate and a contract from a
contractor should contain, with the goal of empowering the senior
with knowledge so that he or she is not victimized by an
unscrupulous contractor.
Helping a senior become the record owner of the home in
which he lives is another important aspect of HAP's work.
Many of SeniorLAW Center's clients mistakenly assume that they are
the owners of the property in which they live merely because they
have been left the property in a relative's Will.
Sometimes a person only finds out he is not the record
owner of his home when he applies for a home repair loan or grant.
In a typical case, a person applies for a grant to have a
problem repaired after receiving a violation notice from the
City's Department of Licenses & Inspections, and he is told
that he does not qualify since, even though his mother left him
the house in her Will, he never took the legal steps to become the
record owner. The
house is still in his deceased mother's name.
HAP can assist this senior in Probating his mother's Estate
and then arrange for a deed transfer so that he can become the
record owner of his home, as long as he pays any fees and taxes
imposed by the City and State.
Once a senior becomes the record owner of his home he can
apply for such things as a loan or grant for home repairs, or a
tax rebate.
In helping a senior who has been served with a City
violation notice due to needed repairs to that senior's home, HAP
advocates for an extension of the time given to make those repairs
and the elimination of any monetary fines.
It is important to be aware that HAP provides legal
representation; it does not perform home repairs, nor help seniors
pay for home repairs. We
will gladly provide information about repair programs and other
resources, however, upon request.
PCA’s Senior Helpline can also provide such information.
Property damage to a senior's home from neighboring
property - either by privately owned property, City-owned
property, or as a result of City contracted demolition work – is
a problem that HAP has dealt with for years.
HAP can assist by negotiating with the private owner or the
City to make sure the needed repairs are made or paid for.
Sometimes, where negotiations are unsuccessful, a lawsuit
may be brought.
Recognizing the importance of Wills to every homeowner, HAP
recently began assisting elderly homeowners in writing Wills.
If a senior wants to make sure a particular person, or
persons, inherits his home, he needs a Will.
If a person does not leave a Will the law decides who will
inherit his property. Without
a Will there is no guarantee that a senior's home will be left to
someone he actually wanted to have it.
By writing a Will and keeping the deed to his home in his
own name while he is alive, a senior can satisfy his wishes of
leaving his property to a loved one while still maintaining
control of his home while alive.
HAP strongly advises a senior to write a Will instead of
giving his house away during his lifetime through a deed transfer,
since once a senior gives up his ownership interest in his home,
he can be forced to pay rent or even be evicted by the new owner,
and will loose the opportunity to apply for such things as a home
repair grant or tax rebate.
Along with direct legal representation, one of HAP's
central features is its community-based legal clinics.
HAP currently has three clinics in North and West
Philadelphia. This
makes it easier for any needy senior living in those areas to
reach out for assistance. HAP's clinic in West Philadelphia is located at Haddington
Multi-Services Center for Older Adults, at 5331-41 Haverford
Avenue, where seniors can go for advice every other Wednesday,
between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. In
North Philadelphia seniors can go to Senior Wheels East/Lehigh
Center at 2700 N. 12th Street, every other Thursday between 9 a.m.
and 1 p.m., or to Mann Older Adult Center at 3201 N. 5th Street,
every other Monday between 9 a.m. and 12 noon.
The staff at Mann speaks English and Spanish, as does the
SeniorLAW Center legal representative providing legal advice, since the
vast majority of its members are Hispanic.
HAP has recently established a fourth community legal
clinic in Chinatown in partnership with the Pennsylvania Chinese
Senior Citizen Association at 221 North 12th Street.
This clinic concentrates its efforts on assisting
Philadelphia's expanding Asian elderly community.
It is coordinated and staffed by a SeniorLAW Center legal advocate
fluent in Cantonese and English and conversant in Mandarin.
Along with the Chinese community, the clinic will focus on
assisting the Cambodian and Vietnamese communities, but as with
HAP's other clinics, the clinic will be open to all seniors.
Questions as to these services should be directed to Marcus
Luk at SeniorLAW Center at (215) 238-6381.
HAP also provides community outreach and legal education
workshops throughout Philadelphia.
SeniorLAW Center staff regularly visit senior, family and community
centers to talk to seniors about legal issues of particular
importance to elderly homeowners and help empower them with
knowledge of their legal rights and resources.
SeniorLAW Center also provides training to professional
organizations, including those providing medical, social work,
housing, in-home and other services, so they can help
identify and address problems facing their clients.
The goal is to assist seniors in avoiding legal problems so
that problems do not need fixing later on.
SeniorLAW Center assists many elders with legal problems
relating to their homes and its Homeowners Assistance Program
specifically focuses on such issues.
Elders
can discuss a legal problem or get information by calling
SeniorLAW Center’s telephone intake line
215-988-1242
Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., or coming to our center
city offices, Mondays through
Wednesdays, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Most issues can be addressed initially over the phone.
For general information, please call us at
215-988-1244.
Marta
Brooks is an attorney and Coordinator of SeniorLAW Center’s Homeowners
Assistance Program.
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