Photo not that of the actual client
“Lashawn,” who participates in the Housing Choice Voucher Program, came to JALA for help when her rental home became uninhabitable and her property manager refused to allow her to break her lease so that she could relocate. The conditions in the home, which included holes in the floors that allowed rats to enter, were adversely affecting her health, which was already compromised by kidney disease requiring dialysis. Despite attempts at pest control, the rats could still be heard at night in the walls. Fair Housing Unit attorney Suzanne Garrow secured a letter from Lashawn’s treating health-care professional saying it was medically necessary she be relocated and that “her immunocompromised health status calls for immediate action in this matter.” Garrow requested, as a reasonable accommodation of her client’s disabilities, that Lashawn be permitted to break her lease without costs, fees, or penalties and that she be issued a new voucher so she and her family could move from the home. After much negotiation with the landlord, Lashawn was allowed to break her lease without costs, fees, or penalties. She was issued a new voucher to move to a new and habitable home.
