DENIED!HOW ECONOMIC ABUSE PERPETUATES HOMELESSNESS FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVORS September 2018 CAMBA Legal Services, Inc. Fordham Law School Feerick Center for Social Justice The Legal Aid Society HOW DENIED!ECONOMIC ABUSE PERPETUATES HOMELESSNESS FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVORS September 2018 CAMBA Legal Services, Inc. Fordham Law School Feerick Center for Social Justice The Legal Aid Society Principal Authors: Diane Johnston, Staff Attorney, The Legal Aid Society Divya Subrahmanyam, Staff Attorney, CAMBA Legal Services, Inc. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Diane Johnston, Staff Attorney with The Legal Aid Society, Dora Galacatos, Kristy Milkov, Elizabeth Perez, Matthew and Divya Subrahmanyam, Staff Attorney with CAMBA Schedler, Olga Tomasello, and Joan Vermeulen provided Legal Services, Inc., were the principal researchers and editing assistance. Judith Rew designed the report. We authors of this report. Dora Galacatos provided invaluable are grateful for the crucial technical assistance provided guidance, feedback and support throughout every stage of by colleagues with the Center for Survivor Agency and this project. The Domestic Violence and Consumer Law Justice, New Destiny Housing, the New York City Human Working Group provided suggestions on the report and the Resources Administration, including the Office of Civil survey throughout its development and implementation. Justice, and the New York City Mayor’s Office to Combat In particular, we thank the following current and former Domestic Violence. We thank all of the practitioners, Working Group members for their work on the report: nonprofit organizations, government officials, and experts Afua Afriye Fullwood, Philip Duncan, Jessica Fabian, Talia who assisted with the design and dissemination of the Gruber, Teal Inzunza, Jae Young Kim, Ariana Lindermayer, survey and express our deep appreciation and gratitude to Mary McCune, Kimberly Morales, and Laura Russell. all of the service providers who completed the survey. IV DENIED: HOW ECONOMIC ABUSE PERPETUATES HOMELESSNESS FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVORS ABOUT THE ORGANIZATIONS THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND CONSUMER LAW The Working Group is currently chaired by and composed WORKING GROUP of advocates from a variety of non-profit organizations, including both consumer legal services providers and In 2006, Fordham Law School’s Feerick Center for Social domestic violence service providers.2 Justice (the “Feerick Center”) launched its Domestic Violence and Consumer Law Project (the “Working CAMBA LEGAL SERVICES Group”) at the request of social services organizations serving domestic violence survivors. The Center began by CAMBA Legal Services, Inc. (“CLS”) is the legal services examining the unique financial issues frequently faced by arm of CAMBA, a community-based non-profit agency domestic violence survivors, including economic abuse, located in Brooklyn that provides services connecting people inadequate financial literacy, accumulation of consumer with opportunities to enhance their quality of life. debt, and identity theft, with a view towards helping expand A critical component of CAMBA’s 160+ programs, CLS service providers’ capacity to address these concerns. A 2007 provides free legal services in the areas of housing law, survey conducted by the Center of seventeen domestic consumer law, immigration law, foreclosure prevention, violence social and legal services providers in New York domestic violence, and public benefits, serving over 4,500 City revealed a growing recognition by practitioners that low-income New Yorkers each year. Through zealous domestic violence survivors were presenting urgent, unmet, representation and expert legal assistance, CLS works to and often complicated economic and consumer debt-related protect the rights of vulnerable New Yorkers and promote issues. Respondents also indicated that, on the whole, service access to justice in the civil legal system and beyond. provider organizations often did not have either the expertise or the resources to help clients address these issues. In particular, CLS’ Consumer Law Project serves clients facing a broad range of consumer law issues, including Since then, the Feerick Center and the Working Group representing them in debt collection proceedings, assisting have developed resources aimed at building domestic with outstanding student loans, combating inaccurate violence agencies’ service capacity to address consumer credit reporting, and fighting debt collection abuse. The issues. The Center has organized numerous training Consumer Law Project also focuses on serving the unique programs, which have collectively attracted well over 500 needs of domestic violence survivors, working together with attendees from over 70 service providers. In addition to other organizations to provide consumer legal assistance to resource development and training, the Working Group survivors in a comprehensive effort to help them achieve engages in fact finding and advocacy efforts. Working financial stability and self-sufficiency. Group members operate and participate in the DV CLARO Project, which provides limited-scope consultations to FORDHAM LAW SCHOOL FEERICK CENTER FOR SOCIAL domestic violence survivors in shelter on consumer debt, JUSTICE credit reporting, and related issues.1 The Feerick Center for Social Justice promotes the rights of and addresses the problems facing marginalized and 1 DV CLARO replicated and adapted the CLARO (Civil Legal Advice and Resource Office) Program, which operates under the auspices of the New low-income New Yorkers through the creation of strategies York State Unified Court System’s Office of Justice Initiatives and its Access to to reform policies, educate, and provide assistance to Justice Program. The CLARO Programs provide limited-scope legal assistance to consumers through court-based, weekly clinics that are staffed by volunteer right wrongs. attorneys and supervised and supported by consumer law experts, legal services programs, and law schools. See generally CLARO: Civil Legal Advice and Resource Office, http://www.claronyc.org/claronyc/default.html (last visited 2 Currently, the organizational members of the Working Group are: Brooklyn Aug. 30, 2018). Volunteer Lawyers Project, CAMBA Legal Services, Inc., The Financial Clinic, Fordham Law School’s Feerick Center for Social Justice, Her Justice, The Legal Aid Society, Manhattan Legal Services, Mobilization for Justice, New York City Anti-Violence Project, New York Legal Assistance Group, Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation, Safe Horizon, Sanctuary for Families, Urban Justice Center, and Urban Resource Institute. ABOUT THE ORGANIZATIONS V Highly regarded for its efficacy and dedication to combating clients in law reform litigation, advocacy, and neighborhood inequities, the Feerick Center works with wide-ranging initiatives, and provides extensive backup support and networks to rally partners in the legal community and technical assistance for community organizations. The beyond to respond to the challenges of those in need. Society’s law reform work benefits some two million low- income families and individuals in New York City, and the Fordham Law faculty and students involved at the Center landmark rulings in many of these cases have a national collaborate with the city’s nonprofit, legal services, and impact. Through a network of sixteen neighborhood public sectors to create long-term innovative solutions and courthouse-based offices in all five boroughs and 23 critical to real change. city-wide and special projects, the Society’s Civil Practice THE LEGAL AID SOCIETY provides direct legal assistance to low-income New Yorkers, helping them to obtain or maintain the basic necessities The Legal Aid Society is the largest legal services provider of life – housing, healthcare, food, public benefits, safety, for low-income families and individuals in the United employment, and means of self-sufficiency. The Legal Aid States, handling roughly 300,000 individual cases and legal Society’s Civil Practice includes both a Family/Domestic matters for low-income New Yorkers each year. In addition Violence Project and a Consumer Law Project. to individual assistance, The Legal Aid Society represents VI DENIED: HOW ECONOMIC ABUSE PERPETUATES HOMELESSNESS FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVORS TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................................4 I. FINDINGS ..........................................................................................................................................................5 A. The Co-Occurrence of Domestic Violence and Consumer Debt: The Legal Aid Society Client Sample B. The Impact of Economic Abuse on Survivors’ Housing Search: A Survey II. DISCUSSION....................................................................................................................................................10 A. The Relationship between Domestic Violence and Homelessness B. Financial Abuse and Domestic Violence C. Broader Issues with Credit Scoring D. The Abusive Consumer Debt Collection Industry E. Poor Credit as a Barrier to Housing and Other Necessities F. Consumer Law Needs of Survivors III. CAPACITY AND LEGAL SERVICES GAPS ...........................................................................................................18