When Consuela's grandmother died in December, 2015, the then 23-year-old medical secretary was understandably bereft. But her grief was compounded when, several months after her loved one passed, the owners of the Staten Island, New York, apartment complex where the pair had lived sent Consuela an eviction notice.
"My grandmother had spent more than 26 years in that unit and had never had any problems," Consuela told Truthout. "She was never late with the rent and never caused any trouble. I'd lived with her for five years."
Suddenly, however, in early 2016, the landlord began alleging that Consuela had no right to her grandmother's apartment and wanted her out, pronto. "I was really worried," Consuela says, but a visit to Staten Island Legal Services calmed her jagged nerves. "Once they stepped in I had little-to-no stress from the landlord and, though it took two years, I recently got a ruling in my favor. I won possession rights to the apartment. It was a long battle but the legal services people stuck it out."
[For more on this story by Eleanor J. Bader, go to http://www.truth-out.org/news/...-justice-to-the-poor]
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