Finding Cook County Legal Aid for Assistance with Housing and Debt

An Overview of Cook County Legal Aid

Organizations Providing Legal Aid
Throughout Cook County, low-income and vulnerable residents can receive free legal assistance from several providers. These include the Circuit Court of Cook County’s Legal Aid Division, Catholic Charities Legal Aid, The John Marshall Law School’s Pro Bono and Community Service Program, Chicago Volunteer Legal Services, and the Housing Court Pro Bono Program.
Legal Aid Division
The Circuit Court of Cook County’s Legal Aid Division (LAD) is the only legally mandated organization authorized to provide civil representation to poor and vulnerable residents of Cook County. The LAD provides constitutionally and statutorily required legal services to low-income and vulnerable residents of Cook County unable to afford private legal representation. LAD attorneys and paralegals provide legal assistance to eligible residents in a range of areas, including guardianship, housing, emergency legal aid, family law, and divorce. Eligible residents can obtain legal services for free or for a reduced fee based on their household income. The legal representation offered by the LAD is available by consulting with staff at any of their six neighborhood court houses programmed offices. Appointments are not taken; however, individuals seeking services are advised to arrive at their first choice location one hour before the publishing hour. However, should you call the office, you may be able to find out where the most legal aid attorneys are working so as to increase your chances of receiving free legal assistance.
Catholic Charities Legal Aid
Catholic Charities Legal Aid provides services to poor and vulnerable residents in Cook County . Specifically, they provide immigration deportation and detention defense services, and offer no-cost legal assistance in guardianship, family, and eviction matters.
The John Marshall Law School’s Pro Bono and Community Service Program
The Pro Bono and Community Service Program at The John Marshall Law School supplements the integrated educational curriculum offered at the law school. The Probation and Community Service Program requires all J.D. students to complete at least 30 hours of pro bono work in order to satisfy graduation requirements. The students work with legal aid organizations, supportive agencies, and the pro bono clinics at the law school to provide high-quality legal services in many areas. The program provides assistance in civil legal matters such as employments law, immigration, consumer law, bankruptcy, housing, tax and employment discrimination.
Chicago Volunteer Legal Services
The Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (CVLS) organization recruits and trains attorneys in order to provide pro bono legal aid services to poor and vulnerable residents in Cook County. Attorneys volunteer their legal expertise in a range of poverty law practice areas such as immigration, juvenile protection, family law, and tutoring.
Housing Court Pro Bono Project
The Housing Court Pro Bono Project is a collaboration of the Circuit Court of Cook County and several bar associations that provide legal assistance to low-income individuals involved in eviction and housing cases. Volunteers include attorneys and law students who provide legal representation to Cook County residents in secret courtrooms.

How to Qualify For Legal Aid in Cook County

Accessing legal assistance in Cook County comes with some expectations. Advocates want to make sure their services are used by those who need it most. As a result, only some people will be eligible for free legal help in Cook County.
Your first step is to fill out an assessment form. Broadly speaking, there are two types of assessments. You may receive a financial screening or a legal screening. The financial screening examines your income and household size. It allows legal advocates to find out if you qualify for legal help based on your income. Many legal aid clinics require income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.
The legal screening, on the other hand, allows legal advocates to prepare for your case based on the type of matter it is. Some legal aid clinics do not require a legal screening.
Another eligibility requirement is residency. To receive legal aid in Cook County, you must live in the county. While you may attend a legal clinic outside of the county, it is recommended you find an advocate within the county when possible.
In many cases, language plays an important role in legal advocacy. Language access is a top priority. Legal aid representatives want to ensure limited-English or non-English speakers have access to legal representation. Interpreters or, at times, pro bono attorneys will be provided for your case.
There are a few circumstances where you may not qualify for legal aid. Even if you receive a referral—such as those offered by the Cook County Bar Association—you are not guaranteed assistance. Each legal aid organization may have their own requirements that you should meet in order to receive legal assistance.
Other instances that may exclude you from receiving legal aid in Cook County include circumstances that conflict with State or Federal law concerning issues with bankruptcy or financial fraud. In this case, you may be referred to a different legal aid organization.

Legal Aid Related to Housing

Housing-related legal aid services currently available in Cook County are primarily eviction defense. Under the Cook County Right to Counsel Ordinance, eligible low-income tenants facing eviction may be entitled to free legal representation or access to attorneys who provide pro bono eviction defense services. Qualifying tenants will also have to be represented in most eviction matters in the city of Chicago.
Also, as part of a sub-grant from the Chicago Bar Foundation, the Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing and the Chicago Bar Association now provide a lawyer on-site in the Cook County Domestic Relations Courthouse to provide legal advice and information to low-income litigants in need of assistance for housing-related concerns such as orders of protection, eviction, and foreclosure. Additionally, the Black Lawyers Association of Chicago Foundation, Chicago Area Fair Housing Center, the Community Law Project, Chicago Volunteer Legal Services, Daley Center Self-Help Legal Assistance Center, and Resurrection Project help train and/or provide volunteer attorneys to handle a limited number of housing-related cases in domestic relations court.
Additional information on who qualifies for assistance, and how to seek it in Cook County, is available from each organization.

Legal Aid for Debt Relief

Cook County offers legal aid related to a variety of debt issues. Like the topics discussed above on housing-related legal aid, many of the legal aid clinics for debt issues are operated through the Lawyers in the Library program. Through its Lawyers in the Library program, Cook County offers a number of different types of programs that directly address debts and debt collection issues. Before we present some of those opportunities, we’ll first note two other types of debt-related issues where legal aid is available for Cook County residents. Those one-on-one programs are described in more detail below. Prior to filing for bankruptcy or if you file for bankruptcy protection, the Lawyers in the Library program also has some opportunities for you. In addition, you may be able to get assistance via the Chicago Debtors’ Assistance Project. The Chicago Debtors’ Assistance Project allows bankruptcy filers to meet with volunteer attorneys to answer procedural questions and get assistance in filing for bankruptcy without the assistance of an attorney . How do you get involved? A Bankruptcy Court volunteer will be on-site to answer questions and provide assistance in completing appropriate forms. Volunteers will not provide legal advice. They can only help you with completing certain forms necessary for your bankruptcy filing. You can also email the facilitator to make an appointment at your convenience. There are no income guidelines. This program is open to the public. In addition, there are in-person clinics where attorneys will answer simple questions relating to motor vehicle repossession and credit report disputes. As we explained above, those clinics are: To participate, you need to be an individual who has a "legal issue zone related to a motor vehicle repossession or credit report dispute." Walk-ins are welcome, but it is advised that you arrive early as a limited number of people are seen each month. The Lawyers in the Library program is extremely popular and the demand often exceeds the number of lawyers available. As a result, you may have to visit your location several times before you are able to meet with a volunteer attorney.

Utilizing Legal Aid Services

The path to accessing legal aid services is a fairly straightforward one. The first step is to contact the relevant organization that provides these services in your respective county; Chicago’s legal aid is provided by the Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing (LCBH). Their website has a lot of useful information, including coverage of what services they provide, eligibility requirements, audio recordings of their intake process, and where to find them. You can also get more information about other organizations that provide legal aid through the Chicago Bar Association, such as the Lake County Bar Association and the right to counsel program available from the Cabrini Green Legal Aid Program.
Once you’ve contacted one of these organizations, you’ll be invited to an "intake interview." This is typically a half-hour session that can be conducted either in person at the LCBH or by telephone, and the recording provided by their website gives a helpful idea of what to expect during this process.
At the intake interview, you will be required to give basic information about yourself, such as your name and contact information. You will also need to describe the kind of legal issue you are facing that you might need help with, and to go through the eligibility questionnaire provided by the LCBH staff. This will include information about your annual household income, the number of people living in your home, whether you are currently facing a default judgment, and whether you hold a lease.
After the intake interview is over, the LCBH will review your file and determine whether you would benefit from the free legal services it provides. If you do, then they will contact you to set up a meeting with a volunteer attorney. If not, they may refer you to another organization or nonprofit that can better assist you.
In addition to your paperwork with the LCBH, you may be directed to speak with someone at the Chicago Bar Association, the organization responsible for connecting clients to a pro bono lawyer. However, there are also other organizations, like the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services and the Illinois Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, that provide similar services to Chicago residents.
Depending on your eligibility, and the type of legal matter you are facing, the Chicago Bar Association may assign you a volunteer attorney to help you with your case. They too will assess your needs during your initial meeting with them, so make sure that you bring any relevant paperwork with you. This includes rent-stabilization vouchers, utility bills, a past due notice or eviction notice from your landlord, wage stubs, and any background documentation that verifies your identity, such as a government-issued photo ID or driver’s license.
While the pro bono attorney assigned to your case does not have to be a real-estate attorney, they will be knowledgeable enough to help you with standard issues that may come up in your housing case. They will not be charged or receive any fees for their services, and the case will remain confidential between you and the lawyer during and after your time together.
The process of finding legal aid and working with the volunteer attorney should typically last around 90 days, with a minimum of a two-week span between meetings.

Legal Aid Success Stories

For many individuals in Cook County, legal aid was the difference between keeping their homes and being removed from them. In the case of Mary Brown, a senior in suburban Cook County, a tenant defense attorney helped her establish a stable existence. A couple of years ago, Ms. Brown was faced with an eviction case filed against her by her landlord for nonpayment of rent. Ms. Brown, a widow who lived in her home while raising her grandchildren, worked part-time as a cashier at a local supermarket. She was receiving Social Security benefits for herself and her grandchildren to supplement her job earnings. Like many single-income families, she struggled to make ends meet. Her landlord, however, would not let her apply her government benefits as payment towards her rent. Ms. Brown sought help from the Advocates Society, a small nonprofit organization in the Chicago area that provides free legal aid to lower-income individuals like herself, and was referred to one of the advocates of the organization, Michal Kolodny.
Kolodny, an attorney who specializes in housing litigation and appellate advocacy, worked for three months to acquire all the information needed to defend Ms. Brown in her eviction trial. The rental contract Ms. Brown signed with her landlord specifically claimed that she was not permitted to apply her government-provided benefits towards her rent. The attorney argued that the clause was illegal in the state of Illinois, and that Ms. Brown was not required to pay her rent because her landlord was in breach of the contract. Nevertheless, the trial court ruled against Ms. Brown.
The attorney then proceeded to file for an appeal. The appellate court agreed with Kolodny’s argument regarding the rental contract, finding that it violated an Illinois Housing Agency regulation that requires landlords to accept government-issued benefits for rent payment. The court also stated that a tenant, such as Ms. Brown, can apply any other form of income—such as Social Security payments—towards her unpaid rent. Based on the court’s decision, Ms . Brown was not required to reimburse her landlord for her failed rent payments, and the court ordered the eviction case to be dismissed. Both Kolodny and Ms. Brown were rejoiced at the decision made by the appellate court.
In another recent case, a senior citizen was threatened with an eviction after her landlord claimed that she failed to complete the forms necessary to secure presence in a low-income housing development. She relied on legal aid—represented by Ayreethem McCausland, housed in the Pro Bono Network Center at Legal Aid Chicago—to push back on the eviction. After further investigation, McCausland found that the landlord failed to provide the forms to her client. Furthermore, the application process was only partially completed because the landlord refused to cooperate by providing the necessary information and signed documents. As a result, McCausland sent the landlord a letter in which she requested him to provide her client with the forms she needed to complete. The letter also threatened to file for a restraining order if the neighbor would continue to harass Ms. Brown. Eventually, with McCausland’s intervention, the matter was addressed and the tenant was allowed to remain in her apartment.
Such stories are common for the clients who seek legal aid in Cook County. Many times, individuals in need of assistance find themselves at odds with landlords or debt collectors whose practices not only hurt their pockets, but also their physical and mental wellbeing. Because of the assistance rendered by the Pro Bono Network Center and other organizations throughout Cook County, those in need of legal assistance can be referred to professionals who can help them overcome confrontation and, in the case of Michelle Brown, allow them to stay in their homes. In light of recent economic changes in the United States, it is crucial for Cook County attorneys to recognize the importance of the work performed by these service providers and to continue their work of assisting individuals looking not to become victims.