GLSP’s housing work is guided by Matthew Desmond’s statement that: “Eviction is a cause, not simply a condition, of poverty.” GLSP’s legal work focuses on the representation of tenants in both subsidized housing and private rental housing. We seek to preserve housing by raising legal defenses to evictions and improve housing quality by representing tenants seeking repairs. Healthy and stable housing is essential to maintaining employment, educational achievement for children, and physical and mental health. Throughout GLSP’s service area, affordable housing is scarce which makes its preservation all the more vital.
In addition to its work preventing evictions and addressing conditions in rental housing, GLSP provides legal assistance for a wide variety of housing issues including:
• Representing tenants who are victims of housing discrimination which can include filing demonstrative complaints and making reasonable accommodation requests for clients with physical or mental impairments.
• In addition to representing tenants in subsidized housing facing eviction or loss of their housing assistance, GLSP also assists these tenants with issues relating to the calculation of their housing assistance and compliance with the regulations governing subsidized housing.
• Helping clients remove barriers that prevent them from accessing affordable housing such as a criminal record, poor credit, or a prior dispossessory action.
• In addition to representing tenants, as resources permit, we work with homeowners threatened with losing their home due to foreclosure, tax issues, or other title issues.
• When a natural disaster strikes, GLSP allocates resources to assist clients with the resulting housing issues including helping tenants and homeowners access emergency services and benefits. We will collaborate with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Younger Lawyers Division of the State Bar to provide these services.
Georgia Legal Services Program (GLSP) has developed new eLearning lessons to assist Georgia tenants. The legal information currently available includes lessons on repair issues, the early stages of an eviction, hearings and judgments, and using the tender defense. Click the button below to access the lessons.
104 Marietta Street, Suite 250
Atlanta, GA 30303
404-206-5175 or 1-800-498-9469
Georgia Legal Services Program (GLSP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation funded in part by the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). As a condition of the funding it receives from LSC, it is restricted from engaging in certain activities in all of its legal work – including work supported by other funding sources. GLSP may not expend any funds for any activity prohibited by the Legal Services Corporation Act, 42 U.S.C.2996 et seq. or by Public Law 104-134. Public Law 104-134 § 504 (d) requires that notice of these restrictions be given to all funders of programs funded by the Legal Services Corporation.
