Category: News

Student Borrower Advocates Call for Canceling Student Debt to Tackle Economic Fallout

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Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy has joined advocates from across the country in calling on Congressional leaders to address student loan debt issues being exacerbated by COVID-19.

Here is the letter addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer:

Download a PDF version of this letter

April 13, 2020

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader McConnell, Minority Leader McCarthy, and Minority Leader Schumer:

The 66 undersigned community, civil rights, consumer, and student advocacy organizations thank you for taking swift action to pass the CARES Act to begin to grapple with the ongoing economic fallout caused by the coronavirus. However, much more must be done to ensure that student loan borrowers and the economy recover when this crisis ends. We urge you to include student debt cancellation in the next coronavirus package, and for those who will still have federal student debt, to extend suspension of those payments through March 2021.

We are concerned about the increasingly grim predictions we hear about the state of our economy. Without a comprehensive long-term solution, the CARES Act suspension of federal student loans for eighty percent of borrowers merely kicks the problem down the road to this fall, when jobless claims are predicted to exceed Great Depression-era levels, and the financial crisis will have severely deepened. The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, James Bullard, predicted the U.S. unemployment rate may hit 30% in the second quarter, a level five percent greater than was reached during the Great Depression. Goldman Sachs is projecting a record-breaking 24 percent drop in GDP for the second quarter of 2020, and that the world economy is expected to contract by 1 percent this year—which would be a greater worldwide contraction than the one following the 2008 financial crisis. And the downturn is expected to last well beyond this year: Morgan Stanley predicts that GDP in developed markets won’t return to pre-virus levels until the third quarter of 2021.

The student debt relief in the CARES Act fails to address this looming economic crisis. First, the six-month suspension on federally-held federal student loans leaves out an estimated one in five borrowers who owe on commercially-held FFEL loans or Perkins loans. Second, even for the eighty percent of borrowers who benefit from a six-month suspension, many will face the daunting prospect starting in October of choosing between paying for necessities including food, medical care, and rent, or making their student loan payment.

The next stimulus package must take the necessary steps to ensure economic recovery down the line: this means federal student debt cancellation, so the hardest hit don’t struggle, and an extended federal student loan payment suspension that is expanded to all borrowers to at least March 2021, so those who will continue to have payments will have more breathing room to get back on their feet. Without taking these additional steps, the CARES Act sets up millions of federal student loan borrowers to face the daunting prospect of trying to find the means to pay their student loans in the middle of economic devastation.

Cancelling federal student debt would bring impactful relief to 43 million Americans and their families. Loan cancellation would provide the greatest benefit to many struggling low-income borrowers who would likely see their debt extinguished. For those who would still have a balance, suspending payments until the end of the year would prevent them from facing yet another financial shock when the CARES Act federal student loan suspension expires in October. An extended payment suspension would enable many economically distressed borrowers to focus on recovering from a once-in-a-lifetime national emergency and free up extra dollars to inject into the economy. It would also strengthen the finances of student loan borrowers and their families over the long term by ensuring that tens of millions of borrowers come out of this crisis with lighter debt burdens.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating economic impact, it is crucially important to include student loan debt cancellation as a part of any economic stimulus. We support the proposals that Senate and House Democrats have put forward to cancel student debt by establishing a program to make principal and interest payments on outstanding federal student loans throughout the duration of this crisis. Such a program would ensure that loan balances go down throughout the duration of the crisis, putting millions of households in a better position to deal with the long-term economic fallout this crisis will create. We also support the Student Debt Emergency Relief Act by Representatives Ayanna Pressley and Ilhan Omar to cancel a minimum of $30,000 in federal student loans.

Cancelling student debt would ensure that, come fall, borrowers are able to shoulder the ongoing costs of food, supplies, and medications if they, like many workers, face layoffs or smaller paychecks (due to reduced hours or slower business) because of the pandemic. And at a time when student loan servicers are shuttering call centers or reducing capacity, student loan cancellation would ensure there is less need for borrowers to take time out of their days to chase down their servicers and try and secure changes to, or help on, their student loans.

Reports show that cancelling student debt would also boost the economy for everyone in the medium-to-long term. It would boost GDP by up to $108 billion a year, and add up to 1.5 million jobs per year. Research by the National Bureau of Economic Research shows that federal student debt cancellation increases borrowers’ incomes by about $3,000 over a three-year period.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States was facing a student debt crisis: outstanding student debt surpassed $1.6 trillion, over 9 million borrowers were in default on their federal student loans, and another borrower goes into default every 26 seconds. The burden of default falls particularly hard on communities of color. Black students must borrow at higher rates and in larger amounts due to racial inequities in incomes and wealth. Additionally, women hold two-thirds of the country’s student debt and on average borrow $3,000 more than men to attend college—yet because of the wealth and wage gap, women find it harder to repay their loans. Three million Americans over the age of 60 still have student debt. More than 40,000 people over 65 have their Social Security payments, tax refunds, or other government payments offset or garnished because they have fallen behind on their student loan payments. According to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) Snapshot report, older borrowers are more likely than those without outstanding student loans to report that they have skipped necessary health care needs such as prescription medicines, doctors’ visits, and dental care because they could not afford it.

Now more than ever, we must ensure that all people prioritize the health and economic wellbeing and that of their families and neighbors. Federal student debt cancellation is an essential factor in making that possible, and we strongly urge you to include this relief in the next COVID-19 package.

Sincerely,

National organizations:
Allied Progress
American Federation of Teachers
Americans for Financial Reform
Association of Young Americans (AYA)
Center for Digital Democracy
Center for Economic Integrity
Center for Justice & Democracy
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
Center for Responsible Lending
Center for Survivor Agency and Justice
Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF)
Economic Opportunity Institute
The Education Trust
EMPath
Hildreth Institute
NAACP
National Association of Consumer Advocates
National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA)
National Center for Transgender Equality
National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients) National Women’s Law Center
The Midas Collaborative
OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates
Public Citizen
Public Justice Center
Public Law Center
Student Action
Student Borrower Protection Center
Student Debt Crisis
Young Invincibles

State and local groups:
ACTION – Allied Communities of Tulsa Inspiring Our Neighborhoods
Alaska PIRG
Arkansans Against Abusive Payday Lending
Arkansas Community Organizations
Bucks County Women’s Advocacy Coalition
Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy
Convencion Bautista Hispana de Texas
Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council, Inc.
East LA Community Corporation
Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition
Faith Action Network – Washington State
Georgians Against Predatory Lending
Habitat for Humanity of Anderson County, TN
Just-A-Start Corporation
Lawrence CommunityWorks
Maine Center for Economic Policy
Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition
Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance
Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance
Michigan League for Public Policy
Michigan Poverty Law Program
Montana Organizing Project
New Jersey Citizen Action
New Jersey Tenants Organization
PathWays PA
Pennsylvania Council of Churches
PHENOM (Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts)
Project LIFT
SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center
Tennessee Citizen Action
Tzedek DC
Virginia Citizens Consumer Council
VOICE OKC
Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice
WV Citizen Action Group

Release from Americans for Financial Reform

COVID-19 Stimulus Payments: Protect Yourself from Scams

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From Arthur Bartlett, director of the N.C. Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic:

WARNING: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is warning the public not to fall victim to a COVID-19 scam in which scammers are trying to intercept COVID-19 stimulus payments meant to provide financial support for Americans during the pandemic.

For most people, payments will be made as a direct deposit into their bank accounts, but some will receive a paper check.

Criminals and scammers may try and take advantage of you by having you:

  • Sign over part of or your entire Stimulus Check over to them.
  • “Verify” your filing information in order to receive your stimulus payment.
  • They may also try to obtain and use your personal information, including your Social Security Number, to file a false tax return to claim your stimulus payment.

Please know, the IRS will not call, text, or email you to “verify” your payment details. Do not give out your personal information, like a bank account, debit account or PayPal account information to anyone claiming to be from the IRS.

If you do receive a call, do not engage with the scammers or thieves, just hang up.

If you receive texts or emails claiming that you can get your money faster by sending personal information or clicking on links, delete them.

There are companies that are targeting unhoused individuals specifically. We have heard that houseless people have been approached by companies that say they will help someone register for their economic impact payment but take $399 or other amount from the payment. They have the person sign a contract (which you can read on this example company’s website – https://www.docuprepllc.com/) and tell them to come back on a certain date to get the remainder of their payment. You do not have to pay for their EIP and do not need to pay for help accessing it. The only site you should use to claim your stimulus payment is IRS.gov

In addition, if you receive a “check” for an odd amount or a check that requires you to verify the check online or by calling a number, it’s a fraud.

Retirees have been highlighted as a group particularly vulnerable to scams. From the IRS:

“The IRS also reminds retirees who don’t normally have a requirement to file a tax return that no action on their part is needed to receive their $1,200 economic impact payment. Seniors should be especially careful during this period. The IRS reminds retirees – including recipients of Forms SSA-1099 and RRB-1099 − that no one from the agency will be reaching out to them by phone, email, mail or in person asking for any kind of information to complete their economic impact payment, also sometimes referred to as rebates or stimulus payments. The IRS is sending these $1,200 payments automatically to retirees – no additional action or information is needed on their part to receive this.”

Read more about the warning issued by the IRS

Additionally, economic impact payments belong to the recipient, not nursing home or care facilities: “The payments are intended for the recipients, even if a nursing home or other facility or provider receives the person’s payment, either directly or indirectly by direct deposit or check. these payments do not count as a resource for purposes of determining eligibility for Medicaid and other federal programs for a period of 12 months from receipt. They also do not count as income in determining eligibility for these programs.”

We’re here to help: If you have any questions, please reach out to Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy’s N.C. Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic by calling 704-376-1600 (Mecklenburg County), 800-438-1254 (Outside Mecklenburg County), 800-247-1931 (Linea de Español), or by submitting a contact form.

COVID-19 Update

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Mecklenburg County has established a website for local updates on COVID-19.

Update March 16, 2020:

Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy has been closely monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic across our community and the nation. We are following guidelines that protect the health and well-being of our staff and their families, our partners, and the people we serve while maintaining our role as a champion for those in need and a resource for the community during this historic time.  

Our staff will largely be working remotely from home until further notice. We have encouraged our staff to limit in-person meetings to only necessity and instead meet with clients and community partners through telephone or video conferencing. While we currently are not able to take walk-in clients, our community intake line is operating normally. 

Anyone needing assistance should contact 704-376-1600 (English), 800-438-1254 (residents outside Mecklenburg County) or 800-247-1931 (Spanish) or contact the Advocacy Center staff member you are working with directly by phone or email. 

Some court schedules have been adjusted. Please find more information here: Mecklenburg County Courthouse, Charlotte Immigration Court or contact the Advocacy Center staff member you are working with directly. 

This pandemic is unprecedented and impacts each of us but affects vulnerable members of our community in particularly intense ways.  

Our individual and policy advocacy work will continue to support those we serve in the coming days, weeks and months. You will see us continue to serve clients, albeit in different ways. And we will engage in local, state and federal policy measures that will support our most vulnerable community members who currently face financial insecurity and instability. We invite you to join us in this work and will share recommendations in the days to come. Please stay connected with us through this email platform and our social media (find links at the bottom of this message) for the most current information.    

More than ever, we need to advocate for individuals and communities in a way that ensures safety, security and stability for everyone through access to healthcare, secure housing, paid sick leave, adequate unemployment insurance and support for all of the basic needs impacted by the justice system.

Please take care of yourselves and each other. 

Update March 13, 2020:

All Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy offices are currently open, but we discourage in-person contact with us unless absolutely necessary. 

Applicants for our services and existing clients are encouraged to communicate with us by phone: 704-376-1600, 1-800-438-1254 or 800-247-1931 (Linea de Español). Existing clients should expect to hear from us by phone, mail, email or text message.

On March 13, North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Cherie Beasley directed that local courts postpone most cases in district and superior court for at least 30 days. Read more here.

Please do not come to Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy if you have any symptoms – no matter how mild. Advocacy Center staff will not maintain any scheduled client meetings if we are experiencing symptoms. We will do our best to accommodate any client who needs our services and cannot travel to our offices.

Members of the public who are experiencing fever, cough or shortness of breath and traveled to an area where COVID-19 is spreading, or have been near or touched someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19, should call their health care provider.

Update March 12, 2020:
COVID-19, sometimes referred to as the coronavirus, is on everyone’s minds today, including ours. Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy is closely monitoring the virus’ spread to North Carolina and Mecklenburg County.

Our priority is to ensure the safety of our clients, visitors and staff while continuing to serve our community. We are considering appropriate measures to limit exposure for both clients and staff.

Be sure to check this post and follow Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy on its social media platforms for the latest information regarding our operations during this outbreak.

Fighting Fear with Facts: Helping Families Understand Public Charge

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As a member of the Protecting Immigrant Families Campaign, a national coalition of organizations fighting to protect immigrant family stability, Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy has been working to educate the community on the local impact of the Trump administration’s new Public Charge rule.

The rule, which went into effect Feb. 24, expands the types of benefits considered in the “public charge” immigration test administered to immigrants entering the country or seeking permanent residency to determine if they will become primarily dependent on the government for financial support. 

This broader definition makes it harder for low-income immigrants to legally immigrate to the U.S. through family-based petitions or adjust their immigration status to become legal permanent residents (become green card holders).

Misinformation around the rule is also creating unnecessary fear for families who are not impacted. Immigrants without legal status do not qualify for most public benefits. Many immigrants with status who do qualify and all U.S. citizen family members are not subject to the rule.

Families are also scared to use resources that are not included in the rule such as Affordable Care Act Marketplace health coverage, local health programs, and school lunches programs.

That’s why families need to seek legal advice and understand their options before making any major decisions.

Medical-Legal Partnership coordinator Elizabeth Setaro has been leading the Advocacy Center’s efforts, appearing in local Spanish media and conducting presentations for families, healthcare providers and community groups that serve the immigrant community.

“Our goal is to help families fight fear with facts,” she said. “When families have the information they need, they can make informed decisions about what is best for their individual situations.”

Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy’s health insurance navigators also participated in a report released last week by the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) documenting the harm caused by the public charge rule before it was implemented. The report shows the chilling effect the rule has had on families using public benefits and seeking health care they are entitled to receive.

NILC interviewed health insurance navigators Andrea Mora and Johanna Parra, who provided firsthand accounts of the fear they have observed from families the Advocacy Center serves. Since the rule was proposed, Mora and Parra have had families who were not subject to the rule insist on withdrawing from benefits out of fear that continuing to use them would jeopardize their immigration status. 

The sad part of all this is that, mainly, all these consumers are already green card–holders. They are already residents, so some of them will apply for citizenship in a few years, some of them … have been given the green card …. [W]e have to explain, “You are already a resident, you won’t have any problem because this is a proposed rule that will affect from maybe when you are applying for residency, so that is not your situation.”

Quote from a Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy navigator featured in “Documenting through Service Provider Accounts Harm Caused by the Department of Homeland Security’s Public Charge Rule” published by the National Immigration Law Center.

This continues to happen even though the rule does not apply to most immigrants.

Now with concerns of COVID-19 spread, families may fear seeking testing or care if they worry about negative immigration impacts.

Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy continues to monitor the effects of this rule and is available to help families understand their options.

Learn more about Public Charge and its impact on our community:

Public Charge: What Families Need to Know
Ocho Cosas Que Debes Saber Sobre Carga Pública

Charlotte Tax Preparer Pleads Guilty for Filing False Tax Returns

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from WSOC TV:

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte tax preparer pleaded guilty in federal court Friday for filing false tax returns for her clients and for herself.

Andrivia Wells entered a guilty plea for three out of 35 counts, including aiding and assisting the filing of false tax returns and filing false tax returns for herself. She did not address a charge related to obstructing criminal investigators from the IRS.

From 2011 through 2019, Wells ran Rush Tax Service out of three locations: Beatties Ford Road, Nevin Road and North Tryon Street. Federal prosecutors say Wells prepared more than 6,000 tax returns and received more than $1.2 million in fees from her clients. Oftentimes, the tax fees were taken from the clients’ tax refunds and clients were unaware of how much they were being charged, which was frequently more than $500.

According to the indictment filed in 2019, Wells filed clients’ tax returns with fabricated items, including wages, filing status, American Opportunity Credits, education credits, Schedule C business income and losses and more. The clients did not know what Wells was doing until they were contacted by the IRS with questions about items on their returns.

Shortly after Wells was notified about the investigation, prosecutors allege she set her Beatties Ford Road office location on fire. It was the very same day her summons response was due. The fire destroyed client files, financial records, and computer hardware.

If you’d like to safeguard your filings this tax season and you make less than $56,000 a year, Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy attorney Arthur Bartlett said taxpayers should consider going to a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance site. There are locations across Mecklenburg County, and it’s sponsored and funded by the IRS.

If you do have to pay someone to file your taxes, Bartlett said to remember this important tip.

“Make sure you know you’ve looked at the return as best you can and you’ve asked questions where it doesn’t make sense because ultimately the IRS is going to hold you responsible, very likely, if the one you looked at and signed is the one that’s filed.”

The Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy is assisting Wells’ victims. You can reach them at 704-376-1600.

N.C. Ranks 37th on Prosperity

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This release is from the group Financial Security CLT. Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy is a member.

Weathering a financial storm is essential for all families to build towards a stronger future. New data released this week about the financial health of our state highlights where disparities exist that prevent individuals and families from reaching economic freedom in five areas: financial assets and income, businesses and jobs, home ownership and housing, health care and
education.

According to the 2020 Prosperity Now Scorecard, North Carolina ranks 37th on prosperity for its residents. One in four households are unable to make ends meet while employed in low-wage jobs and working multiple jobs doesn’t ensure stability for many families. For example, 48% of renters across the state are cost burdened.

Racial economic inequality further limits opportunities to prosper, with North Carolina ranking 26th in racial disparity. For example, the homeownership rate of White households is 74% compared to 45% for Black households and 46% for Latino households. Additionally, over 60% of households of color are liquid asset poor in North Carolina as compared to 33% of White households. People of color throughout the state have more than double the uninsured rates than those of Whites. Evenly distributing resources to address racial wealth inequity is crucial.

North Carolina has adopted eight of 28 policies to support economic inclusion and mobility.

“This scorecard compels us to advocate for stronger policies so that families can thrive and prosper,” said Stephanie Cooper-Lewter, Executive Director of Financial Security CLT. “Working together to remove barriers to savings, earning, health and financial security, we can further boost resilience, opportunity and financial well-being for all.”

Member organizations of Financial Security CLT see first-hand the impact of these inequities which inspired the coming together of this coalition and vision to positively impact the racial wealth gap and improve financial security of Charlotteans. Our members include: Care Ring, Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy, Communities in Schools, Community Link, Council for
Children’s Rights, Crisis Assistance Ministry, Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont, GreenLight Fund Charlotte, Latin American Coalition, Leading on Opportunity, Urban League of Central Carolinas and YMCA of Greater Charlotte.

About Financial Security CLT
Financial Security CLT is a coalition of nonprofit organizations working in Mecklenburg County who share a belief that financial security is the underpinning of economic mobility. The ability to weather financial emergencies, share equitably in economic opportunity, and plan for a brighter future is a vision shared by all coalition partners through our differing individual missions. We work collaboratively to help families get on and stay on a path to greater financial security through empowerment and asset building. Our vision is to improve the financial security and knowledge of residents of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, especially in communities of color, and create economic opportunity for all.

Supreme Court allows Public Charge rule to go into effect

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Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily lifted a nationwide court order blocking implementation of the Trump administration’s revised “public charge” rule. The 5-4 decision allows the rule to go into effect while legal challenges play out in lower courts.

This rule creates a discriminatory immigration system that only serves the wealthy. It targets immigrants legally seeking permanent resident status in the U.S., forcing them to choose between family unity and their ability to access basic needs such as food, shelter and health care.

“Public charge” has been a longstanding immigration test administered to immigrants entering the country or seeking permanent residency to determine if they will become primarily dependent on the government for financial support.

For more than 100 years, the U.S. government has recognized that social supports like health care and nutrition help families thrive and remain productive contributors to society. The government has long clarified that immigrant families can seek health and nutrition benefits for eligible families without fear of harming their immigration case.

Today, families no longer have that assurance.

Under the new rule, the definition of “public charge” is drastically broadened to consider whether a person is likely to use public benefits. This broader definition makes it harder for low-income immigrants to legally immigrate to the U.S. through family-based petitions or adjust their immigration status to become legal permanent residents.

While this rule directly affects a small number of people, fear surrounding it has already done considerable harm.

Last year, the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s Center for Children and Families reported that the U.S. saw its first increase in the uninsured rate for children in more than a decade. The Kaiser Family Foundation has also reported about half of community health centers reported people declining or withdrawing from coverage because of this regulation.

Locally Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy has helped families who fear punishment for using benefits they are legally eligible to receive MORE than the instability created by going without this support.

The rule is a dangerous departure from our country’s proud identity as a nation of immigrants seeking the American Dream’s promise of opportunity earned through persistence and hard work.

Instead, of welcoming the “tired, poor, huddled masses” of the world to our country, this rule allows the wealthy to jump to the front of the line and cut off families who have waited years to reunite.

It punishes low-income people for wanting to legally live in the U.S. It denies vulnerable families the chance to even try to “pull themselves up by the bootstraps.”

Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy serves hardworking low-income immigrant families who deserve a fair shot at the American Dream.

Now that this rule will go into effect, we are certain that many more families will decline critical access to nutrition, healthcare and housing they are eligible to receive, creating more confusion for families who already live in fear and vulnerable to exploitation.

This chilling effect destabilizes families, and it will impact our community for years to come.

Building a strong community means helping families thrive. When families are too afraid to seek assistance to meet their basic needs, our whole community suffers. Family safety and unity should not have to come at the expense of stability.

From the Protecting Immigrant Families Campaign:

What we can do RIGHT NOW

This rule is scary for families and communities they live in. It’s important for us to remember that we must fight fear with facts.

Yes, the Supreme Court’s ruling allows the public charge regulation to take effect, but …

  1. This rule may not be in place forever. However, it is in place for now and needs to be considered when making decisions for your family.
  2. The Administration hasn’t said when the rule will take effect. Follow Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy for updates as we learn more from our national partners.
  3. The legal battle over this rule continues in the lower courts.


Fear is the Trump administration’s real weapon. Facts are families’ best defense against it:

  1. Most immigrants who are subject to public charge are not eligible for the programs listed in the rule. 
  2. Get the facts to do what’s best for your family.
  3. Anyone with questions about how this rule will impact their family can contact Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy.

The fight to ensure all families have the right to thrive isn’t over.

  1. This regulation goes against our national identity. We are a nation of immigrants and that’s what makes our country great. Everyone deserves a fair shot at the American Dream, not just the wealthy.
  2. Immigrant families and allies must fight this regulation on different fronts.
    • Get the facts to do what’s best for your family
    • Help the Protecting Immigrant Families Campaign take this fight to Congress
    • Participate in the 2020 Census to ensure a complete and honest count. Urge others to participate.
    • Make sure your state and local government officials understand how this rule hurts our community.

2020 Expunction Clinics Kick Off with Help of Triage Partners

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Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy kicked off its 2020 expunction clinics Jan. 22 with volunteers from the Charlotte Triage Pro Bono Partnership to help 15 Mecklenburg County residents apply to have their criminal records expunged.

An expunction (also called an “expungement”) removes minor offenses and misdemeanors on one’s criminal record that create significant barriers to economic stability and opportunity.

Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy helps low-income Mecklenburg County residents get their criminal records expunged allowing them to pursue a broader range of economic opportunities.

The expunction clinic was the first of six to be held this year.

“This is a breath of fresh air,” said Bernard, who had been working toward a new start before coming to the clinic for help.

He heard about the expunction clinic and registered through Running Works, a Charlotte nonprofit that empowers individuals and families to break cycles of abuse, abandonment, neglect, poverty and homelessness through running, career development services, counseling, group therapy and housing initiatives.

“What I needed the most was to clean up my record instead of giving up,” he said.

Now Bernard is waiting to learn if his application will be approved.

Bernard is one of more than 2 million North Carolina residents living with a criminal record. Too often, these individuals are automatically denied employment, housing, and other opportunities, based on past involvement with the criminal justice system, including dismissed charges and long-ago convictions.

As part of its 2020 Advocacy Agenda, the Advocacy Center supports legislative efforts to expand eligibility for expunctions, such as The Second Chance Act, which passed with bipartisan support in the N.C. Senate last year. We are hopeful that the N.C. House of Representatives will consider and approve this legislation this spring.

Through our individual representation and advocacy, the Advocacy Center seeks to help people with criminal records have a fair chance at productive citizenship.

Special thanks to Lara Nichols and Ann Warren of Duke Energy; Kevin Denny and Justin Knapp of McGuireWoods LLP; Abigail Williams of K&L Gates LLP; Katie Clarke and Fern Patterson of Parker Poe; and Chad Crockford of Wells Fargo for volunteering their time through the Charlotte Triage Pro Bono Partnership.

Wondering if you are eligible to clean up your criminal record?

Mecklenburg County residents can learn more and register for our upcoming clinics by calling 704-376-1600 ext. 510.

Registration is required to receive assistance. Applicants must not have any pending criminal charges.

2020 Open Enrollment Numbers Strong in N.C.

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Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy is celebrating another year of strong health insurance enrollment after the seventh open enrollment period for health coverage through Federal Health Insurance Marketplace under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

As a member of the N.C. Navigator Consortium, the Advocacy Center’s Health Insurance Navigator Project helped North Carolina have the third highest number of enrollments behind Florida and Texas for states on the federal exchange. During this year’s enrollment period, 505,275 individuals signed up for 2020 Marketplace Coverage–almost 3,000 more than last year’s enrollment period.

This year’s enrollment period, which typically lasts Nov. 1 through Dec. 15, was extended to 3 a.m. Dec. 18 to accommodate website issues for consumers trying to enroll on the final day.

During that period, the Advocacy Center assisted more than 1,400 residents, helping them understand their coverage options and select plans that best fit their needs and budget for 2020.

“Our team did an incredible job in just 45 days,” said Julieanne Taylor, coordinator for the Health Insurance Navigator Project.

The Advocacy Center was able to host more than 150 additional appointments this year thanks to the support of 18 volunteers from the Charlotte Triage Pro Bono Partnership and the community.

Volunteers hosted 66 appointments during enrollment events on Wednesday evenings and Saturdays during the six-week period. Volunteers also made more than 500 calls to help consumers schedule appointments.

Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy recently hosted a volunteer celebration event at Amelie’s French Bakery and Café Uptown to recognize their efforts to make this year’s open enrollment period a success.

“Our volunteers helped us serve more consumers on a tight timeline,” Taylor said. “They were all so helpful and jumped in to support us wherever they could.”

The 2020 enrollment period may be over, but navigators are now assisting individuals who qualify to select coverage during Special Enrollment Periods. Anyone who has experienced a major life event such as getting married, moving, changes in income, welcoming a new family member, or loss of coverage can call 1-855-733-3711 or visit ncnavigator.net to get free help to understand their coverage options.

Navigators are located at sites across Cabarrus, Mecklenburg and Union counties all year to help consumers understand their coverage options.

Advocacy Center navigators will also be stationed at Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites through tax season to help consumers reconcile any financial assistance they receive for health coverage in preparing their taxes.

Then & Now: A Decade of Justice

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In 2010 …

Charlotte was recovering from the Great Recession, which had destabilized thousands of people through job and home loss that eroded financial security.

As a result, Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy saw the overall community need for legal assistance increase by 15%, including an overwhelming need from families facing foreclosure.

The Recession’s effects continued to be felt throughout the decade to shape our community, to define the issues of economic mobility and inequity we fight to address, and to steadily impact the people the Advocacy Center serves today.

As we mark the passing of a critical decade for Charlotte, we’re taking a look back at the work we’ve done to build a more just community for everyone in the Charlotte region.

Then

Our name was Legal Services of Southern Piedmont, a name we had been operating under since 1978.

Number of staff: 19

Now

Today we are Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy! In 2017, we changed our name and celebrated 50 years of service.

Number of staff: 50

Our new name reflects our commitment to providing both individual legal representation and systemic change to advance our mission of pursuing justice for those in need.

Growth to Address Systemic Problems in a Changing World

Since 2010, we’ve launched several projects to meet increased demand for assistance, creatively address the root causes of poverty and support our community’s most vulnerable populations, including:

Access to our legal system

Life altering decisions are made every day in our civil legal system that directly impact a person’s chance at a stable life and opportunity.

Despite the gravity of these decisions, no one is guaranteed legal representation in civil legal cases, leaving only those who can afford an attorney with true access to justice.

Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy and legal service organizations across the country fight to provide equal justice for all in a legal system that is currently inaccessible for those who lack the money and resources to navigate it.

Federal funding for legal service organizations through the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) peaked in 2010. The funding increase was necessary to support legal service organizations assisting an increasing number of people while having lost key funding resources during the Recession. Funding has not increased since, despite the fact 25 percent more people qualify for legal assistance today than in 2007.

Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy does not receive LSC funding (learn why), but we advocate for sustained and increased funding for our partners that do, such as Legal Aid of North Carolina.

A 2014 impact report from the N.C. Equal Access to Justice Commission showed that 2.2 million North Carolinians qualified for civil legal aid services and 80 percent of civil legal needs of low-income people went unmet.

Despite these unmet needs for civil legal aid, the N.C. General Assembly eliminated $1.7 million in funding for the Access to Civil Justice Act that enabled the state’s legal service organizations, Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy, Legal Aid of North Carolina and Pisgah Legal Services, to help people navigate their way out of crisis.

Today, the gap between access and justice is still wide:

  • 1 in 3 Mecklenburg County residents is low-income.
  • 71 percent of low-income people experienced at least one civil legal problem in the last year,
  • Only 14 percent received the legal help they needed to address their problem.
  • In Mecklenburg County, there ONE legal aid attorney available to every 11,500 low-income residents between the Advocacy Center and Legal Aid.

Learn about the justice gap and how you can help

Affordable housing and protection from housing displacement

By 2010, the Advocacy Center was assisting families who were fighting foreclosure and trying to put their financial lives back together in the wake of the global financial crisis. When the housing crisis peaked in 2009, more than 12 million homeowners were experiencing negative equity across the U.S.

Today, the Advocacy Center helps families and communities navigate Charlotte’s affordable housing crisis as more people struggle to find and remain in affordable places to live. That assistance includes foreclosure prevention; defense against unfair and deceptive sales and purchases; property tax relief; and impact litigation on behalf of tenants to ensure safe and habitable housing conditions under N.C. law, including a class action lawsuit on behalf of residents of Lake Arbor Apartments.

Welcoming Immigrants into Our Community

Charlotte’s Immigration Court opened in 2008 to serve applicants from North and South Carolina. The Advocacy Center’s Immigrant Justice Program began serving applicants who could not afford legal assistance in the court, which quickly gained a reputation as one of the most hostile in the country.

With the Immigration Working Group, the Advocacy Center began the Immigration Assistance Project in 2010 to help unrepresented people in the court, providing consultation, education and referrals to assist them in court proceedings. Since its creation, it has been a vital legal resource to thousands of people that is not available in most immigration courts.

Today Charlotte’s Immigration Court continues to be one of the most hostile courts for applicants seeking immigration relief with judges known for their high denial rates.

By 2014, violence and instability in Central America generated a wave of unaccompanied migrant children traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border seeking asylum, safety and reunification with family already living in the U.S.

The Advocacy Center launched the Safe Child Immigrant Project to ensure these children had an advocate.

Without our intervention, these children would have had not have had legal assistance to make their case for asylum, special immigrant juvenile status or other forms of relief they were entitled to receive.

Due to an overwhelming backlog, the first green cards from many of these cases were finally granted in 2018, allowing these children and their families to remain safely in the U.S. without fear of return to dangerous situations in their home countries.

This victory is a stark comparison to the current reality for thousands of children seeking relief at the U.S. border. They will not see the same outcome under current federal immigration enforcement, even though they have endured the same hardships and have the same valid claims for relief as these new green card recipients.

The Advocacy Center remains a presence in Immigration Court serving as a legal resource for individuals who otherwise would not receive any assistance and an advocate fighting to ensure dignity, fairness and due process for applicants.

Economic mobility

The Advocacy Center fought to maintain public benefits that stabilize families, while also ensuring access to them with increased demand for social support after the Recession, including SNAP benefits (food stamps) and the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Today, the Advocacy Center is still fighting cuts and policies that destabilize families at the federal and state level, while helping families understand what is available under changing laws and policies.

Since 2018, the Advocacy Center has fought changes to the federal Public Charge rule to consider use of public benefits to determine approval for people seeking to immigrate to the U.S. or applying for a green card to become legal permanent residents. Confusion and fear surrounding the rule change has led local families who are eligible to receive public benefits to forego support out of fear. Federal courts halted the rule’s implementation in October 2019, and the Advocacy Center continues to monitor ongoing litigation.

Our Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic is educating N.C. taxpayers on new regulations stemming from federal tax reform passed in 2018, while continuing to help taxpayers protect themselves from scams and fraud.

In conjunction with a new state law changed the waiting period for expunging non-violent misdemeanor and felony criminal convictions in 2017, the Advocacy Center began helping Mecklenburg County residents apply for removal of non-violent, eligible offenses from their criminal records. This project sought to remove barriers to economic mobility that come with having a criminal record. In FY19, we assisted 217 people to expunge criminal records in N.C. and advocated for passage of expanded eligibility for expungements in the N.C. General Assembly.

In 2016, the Advocacy Center partnered with Central Piedmont Community College’s Single Stop program to provide legal assistance that helps students overcome barriers to their education and pursue economic opportunity. In the first two years, the partnership provided $72,855 in legal assistance while obtaining or preserving $103,462 in public benefits for students and their families.

Access to quality, affordable health care

The Advocacy Center has been litigating to ensure families have the health care they are entitled to receive under the law through major cases, including:

  • Pashby v. Cansler, later Pettigrew v. Brajer: The lawsuit, initially named Pashby v. Cansler, was filed in 2011 by the Advocacy Center, Disability Rights N.C. and the National Health Law Program, alleging that the state violated federal Medicaid law and the Americans with Disabilities Act by determining eligibility for personal care services under more restrictive criteria for people living at home than for those who live in institutional settings known as adult care homes. A settlement was reached in 2016, allowing vulnerable citizens who need health services to safely remain in their homes and have their services restored.
  • Pachas v. NCDHHS: The Advocacy Center brought the case on behalf of a terminally ill man, who had been the primary provider for his wife, two young daughters, and elderly in-laws. Pachas was trying to support his family on Social Security disability benefits before eventually qualifying for Medicaid benefits that covered his medical treatment for a stroke and a brain tumor. Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services determined Pachas’ income was above the federal poverty level based on the level of an individual, not for a family, and required him to pay a large deductible on his Medicaid benefits. In 2018, attorneys argued before the N.C. Court of Appeals that the state was violating federal Medicaid law in applying its definition of family size to determine eligibility for benefits. The N.C. Supreme Court heard arguments on the case in 2018 and unanimously ruled in favor of the Center to vacate the Court of Appeals ruling. The case is now with the Court of Appeals for a ruling on the merits of the case.
  • Hawkins v. Cohen: The Advocacy Center and the National Health Law Program filed a lawsuit in federal court in 2017 to stop illegal terminations of Medicaid benefits in North Carolina that resulted in a preliminary injunction and a certified class action.  The improper actions included due process violations, failure to reasonably accommodate the disabled, and creating barriers to access for recipients with limited English proficiency. The class action is ongoing. As a result, the state changed its computer system earlier this year to stop Medicaid coverage from automatically terminating when a county worker does not timely complete a required eligibility review. Under this programming change, Medicaid coverage for more than 124,000 cases was extended in the past two months that would otherwise have been terminated without notice.

With the first open enrollment season for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Advocacy Center launched the Health Insurance Navigator project to help consumers understand their options and get the health care they needed under the new law.

Since 2013, we’ve helped thousands of people understand their options and get health coverage, while reducing the state’s uninsured rate. The navigator project has been recognized as a national model and received a visit from Sylvia Burwell, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, in 2015.

At the end of 2019, our health insurance navigators completed their seventh open enrollment season, helping residents in Cabarrus, Mecklenburg and Union counties understand their coverage options in a changing healthcare landscape to select health plan that meet their individual needs and budget.

The ACA included opportunity for states to expand their Medicaid programs and close the coverage gap for low-income people to insure all Americans. The Advocacy Center began advocating for expansion of the state’s Medicaid program in the N.C. General Assembly, which has failed to act. Expansion would insure an estimated 500,000 NC residents who make too little to afford private health coverage but too much to receive financial assistance paying for coverage. Expansion also would have lowered overall health costs for residents and spurred an estimated $2.9 billion in business growth by 2020.

Today we are still urging the N.C. General Assembly to expand Medicaid so that more residents have access to health care. Residents like Allan.

The N.C. General Assembly approved changes to the state’s Medicaid program in 2015 that privatized the administration of the program. The Advocacy Center has been working with providers and beneficiaries to make sure they understand what the change means and how to continue receiving health care. The Advocacy Center is also monitoring the change to ensure access under the law. The implementation of the new program was supposed to take place in fall 2019, but it has been delayed due to the legislature’s inability to pass a budget.

Protection from exploitation

To improve quality of life and ensure independence, the Advocacy Center has worked to empower seniors through education, legal representation and specific services that enable them to remain self-sufficient, their property unencumbered and their finances protected through the Legal Services for the Elderly program and other projects.

The Advocacy Center’s Consumer Protection program has continually worked to protect low-income people from scams and bad actors taking advantage of vulnerable groups who lack access to resources to understand their rights as consumers.

Immigrants have historically been targets for exploitation in our country. The current administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy toward immigrants who are undocumented has exacerbated their vulnerability and stoked fear in families, regardless of immigration status.

For 12 years, Mecklenburg County’s 287(g) program facilitated hundreds of deportations by assisting federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in implementing federal immigration enforcement at the local level. The voluntary program directed police to target, arrest and hold residents living in our community without a legal immigration status.

This practice tore families apart, made immigrants vulnerable targets and eroded trust of law enforcement, all while diverting local taxpayer funds away from public safety to enforce federal immigration policy, which is outside the jurisdiction of local law enforcement agencies. The Advocacy Center has long believed this policy has harmed our community by undermining public safety, depriving individuals of due process, wasting county resources, and exposing tax payers to potential legal settlements.

Mecklenburg County Sheriff Gary McFadden ended the 287(g) program in late 2018 after winning election on the issue. In 2019, Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the N.C. General Assembly’s mandate that local sheriffs cooperate with ICE and honor detainer requests. The Advocacy Center continues to monitor local and state policies that negatively impact immigrants in our community.

In 2018, the Advocacy Center fought against ICE presence in our courts after officials arrested a woman and her 16-year-old son at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse, leaving her 2-year-old child behind in the court’s day care center as they took her into custody and placed her in deportation proceedings. This woman, Maria, and her son are survivors of domestic violence who were appearing for a hearing in their case.

The arrest became part of a national dialogue on how ICE activity in courthouses negatively impacts public safety and the ability for crime victims, especially victims of domestic violence, to seek justice.

The Charlotte Immigration Court later terminated her deportation case with the support of ICE, allowing Maria and her family to remain in the U.S. as they pursued a U-Visa, which provides protected status to victims of crime. The victory came after months of negotiation with ICE through the partnership of Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy, Comunidad Colectiva and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.

In response to increased ICE activity since 2017, the Advocacy Center has partnered with community groups, including Action NC, Comunidad Colectiva, El Puente Hispano and the Latin American Coalition to help individuals understand their civil rights and provide emergency planning for families in the event of family separation through arrest and deportation.

A decade of justice

Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy has covered a lot of ground over the  last 10 years, but the gap between access and justice remains wide.

In the decade ahead, Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy remains committed to closing that gap by building a more just community where all are treated fairly and have access to legal representation to meet their basic needs and thrive.

In 2020 and beyond…

We will always fight to ensure

  • Access to our legal system
  • Affordable housing and protection from housing displacement
  • All feel welcome in our community
  • Economic mobility
  • Access to quality, affordable health care
  • Protection from exploitation

While the means to accomplishing our mission will change with the needs of our community, our resolve to pursue justice for those in need remains constant. Because we believe …

justice lives here.