In this issue: Supporting Seniors During Older Americans Month; Protect Your COVID-19 Stimulus Funds; a Positive-Outcome Client Story; and more.

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May is Older Americans Month

The NNJLS Senior Law and Elder Justice Projects

Focus on Dignity in Aging

The month of May's association with older adults originated with President Kennedy: at the time, about one-third of older Americans lived in poverty.  In 1976, President Ford proclaimed the month of May as Older Americans Month, an annual nationwide celebration of the countless contributions older adults make to their communities.  In late 2019, the Dignity in Aging Act reauthorized and updated the Older Americans Act that has served our nation’s seniors for decades.  For NNJLS, our services to and support of older adults is year-round:

The NNJLS Senior Law Project defends older adults from income garnishment and bank levies.  We furnish seniors with Medical Decision Powers of Attorney and Living Will Declarations, and assist with a variety of legal questions including those concerning Medicare and Medicaid benefits.  In addition, we advise clients in landlord-tenant matters and represent them in housing court.  Recently, our Senior Law Project successfully preserved a client’s rent-controlled apartment after a dishonest landlord overcharged our client rent and attempted to force him out of his apartment with a frivolous eviction action.  The matter was dismissed and the client’s home was saved. 

The NNJLS Elder Justice Project also provides important services to our senior clients by protecting them from elder abuse, financial exploitation, and consumer fraud.  Recently, our Elder Justice Project helped a married client regain eligibility for Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid after falling prey to a timeshare scam.  The Social Security Administration believed the timeshare purchased by our client was worth more than the $3,000 resource limit permitted by Social Security regulations.  With our help, the client returned the timeshare to the company and successfully appealed the Social Security Administration’s action to terminate his benefits.

NNJLS's experienced attorneys specialize in many areas of civil law that impact individuals experiencing poverty, seniors, and persons with disabilities.  The NNJLS Senior Law and Elder Justice Projects provide free legal services to qualifying adults aged 60 and older who reside in Bergen, Hudson, or Passaic County. 

For legal help, contact NNJLS at (201) 792-6363 or NNJLS@lsnj.org. 

Protect Your COVID-19 Stimulus Funds Deposited into Your

Bank Account

Authored by Neil Fogarty, Esq. - Managing Attorney, NNJLS Consumer Law Unit

If a creditor sues you and obtains a judgment against you in Court, the creditor may apply to seize the funds in your bank account. This is a bank “levy.”

If you receive Social Security benefits or SSI payments, these funds are protected against seizure in your bank account by the Social Security law, 42 U.S. Code 407. While all Social Security/SSI benefits are protected in full, there is a special protection for an amount equal to double your monthly payment, when your benefits arrive by direct deposit. If the amount on deposit is less than double your monthly benefit, there should be no seizure.

All consumers have the right to protect $1,000 of bank account funds under a New Jersey law called the personal property exemption, New Jersey Statutes 2A:17-19. However, to use this exemption to protect your stimulus funds, if your bank account is seized, then you must make a “motion” in the Court. You can call Northeast New Jersey Legal Services for assistance with this legal problem. You can also find the papers to file a motion at the N.J. Superior Court website: https://njcourts.gov/selfhelp/index.html.           

Some other types of funds which are “exempt” are unemployment benefits, workers compensation, veteran benefits, state pensions, and child support payments (which belong to the child). In a joint account, you own only the funds you deposited. If the funds of a friend or relative are seized for your debt, that person may make a motion in Superior Court to get the money back on proving ownership.

If your COVID-19 stimulus check has been seized, please contact Northeast New Jersey Legal Services at (201) 792-6363 or NNJLS@lsnj.org to see if we can help.

Positive-Outcome Client Story:

A Safe, Healthy Home 

The landlord filed multiple frivolous non-payment cases against Ms. C. and her husband while at the same time not making necessary repairs to the property. The property's tenants did not have smoke alarms and hot water streamed continuously out from the bathtub faucet at the tenant’s expense. If that weren't enough, the landlord initiated a new eviction case in December 2019 against Ms. C. and her husband alleging that he wanted to move into their unit, thus requiring them to move out. The unit above theirs had been vacant for months, but at trial the landlord persuaded the judge that he wanted Ms. C’s second floor unit because it had fewer stairs and the landlord did not want to carry his children up and down the stairs. The judge awarded possession to the landlord, and Ms. C. came to our office when she received her lock-out notice.

Ms. C. said that her Section 8 case manager had informed her that the landlord never returned any of the housing assistance payments even though in general a landlord terminating a tenancy cannot also accept the rent. NNJLS filed an emergency motion on Ms. C’s behalf accompanied by a certification from the Section 8 case manager. The judge required briefs on the issue of whether the landlord had waived his notice to quit, and at the hearing the judge appeared sympathetic to the argument from opposing counsel that his client (Ms. C's landlord) had given him a check to send to Section 8, but the attorney claimed he could not reach anyone at the Section 8 office to calculate and return the payment.

The judge reserved the earlier decision and two months later issued a written decision finding that the landlord had waived his notice to quit by retaining the housing assistance payment.  As a result, the judgment was vacated, the complaint dismissed, and Ms. C. and her husband were allowed to remain in their home.

If you are a tenant or homeowner faced with losing your housing, please contact NNJLS at (201) 792-6363 or NNJLS@lsnj.org.

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