On April 19, 2011 members of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau filed an amicus ("friend of the court") brief on behalf of City Life/Vida Urbana in the case of Federal National Mortgage Association v. Nunez.  Nunez raises the question of whether 186A, the landmark tenant protection statute signed into law on August 7, 2010, applies to tenants whose homes were foreclosed prior to that date.  As the Legal Aid Bureau helped to draft the statute, HLAB had a major interest in ensuring that it was broadly applied.

The brief profiled tenants in City Life/Vida Urbana who have been denied the protection of the statute because their homes were foreclosed prior to August 7th.  Their stories shed light on the hardship and devastation that the foreclosure crisis has wrought on so many tenants and homeowners.  The tenants profiled, however, were in some ways the lucky ones.  Because of the successful outreach efforts of Project No One Leaves and City Life/Vida Urbana, they were able to tap into a dedicated network of social and legal services that helped them fight the banks and stay in their homes.

Nunez will be the second case in as many months in which the Supreme Judicial Court considers novel issues of foreclosure law.  The Harvard Legal Aid Bureau and Project No One Leaves are proud to support the bank tenants in both.  

A copy of the brief is available here.

On Monday, April 4, 2011 Jennifer Tarr, a third year student advocate at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau argued in front of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  Tarr's client, KC Bailey, is a former homeowner involved in City Life/Vida Urbana who challenged Bank of New York's right to evict him after it never sent him notice of the foreclosure.  He lost at the trial stage but with the help of Tarr appealed the decision all the way to the Supreme Judicial Court.  Read more about the case and view the oral argument at the SJC here.

Tyeesha Dixon and David Williams, two members of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, traveled with the Harvard Black Law Students Association to the East African nation of Rwanda.  The group met with Rwandan Supreme Court Justice Samuel Regege, the Rwanda Minister of Justice Tharcisse Karugarama, and President Paul Kagame.  On Friday, March 19, the group traveled to the Faculty of Law of the National University of Rwanda.  Dixon and Williams had the opportunity to speak with the school's Dean, Emmanuel Ugirashebuja along with several student leaders about the Faculty's pro-bono programs.  Third year students at the Faculty are required to volunteer at a weekly Legal Aid Clinic which focuses primarily on helping settle local property and housing disputes.  The Harvard Legal Aid Bureau plans to remain in dialogue with NUR's Faculty of Law and develop more opportunities for collaboration in the future.  Read more about the HBLSA trip to Rwanda here.