Press Room

Recent News & Articles

Spotlighting the Barriers Social Security Disability Applicants Face in an Increasingly Adversarial System

Categories: Attorneys, eNewsletter Story, Homepage, News
An article in today’s Washington Post exposes some of the deep structural barriers faced by applicants for disability benefits in the Social Security system. Rising rates of initial denials, quota systems increasing the likelihood that legitimate claims are denied, large numbers of denials remanded on appeal only to be denied again—the picture that emerges shows …

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Asistencia para víctimas de robo del pago de renta en la ciudad de Napa | Help for victims of rent check theft in Napa

Categories: Announcements, eNewsletter Story, Homepage, News, Resources
¿Fue victima de robo del pago de renta en el mes de Marzo 2023? Aplique HOY para Asistencia Financiera: KeepNapaCountyHoused.org Documentos Requeridos: Verificaciòn de Identidad (ID del estado, pasaporte, cualquier identificaciòn reciente con foto, nombre completo, y fecha de nacimiento) Verificaciòn de Ingresos (talones de pago, taxes) Verificaciòn de Residencia en Napa (contrato de arrendamiento, …

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Welcoming Equal Justice Works Fellow Renée Coe

Categories: Announcements, Attorneys, eNewsletter Story, Homepage, News, Other
Bay Area Legal Aid is pleased to share the public announcement of this year’s Equal Justice Works Fellows, and excited to welcome EJW Fellow Renée Coe, whose two-year EJW Fellowship project will serve BayLegal’s Consumer Protection clients.  Renée’s focus on consumer scams and fraud targeting immigrants and people with limited English proficiency (LEP) will help …

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Litigation Victory Signals End to California Courts’ Illegal Late Fees That Penalized Poverty for Profit

Categories: Advocacy, Announcements, Attorneys, eNewsletter Story, Homepage, Litigation, News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 25, 2023 MEDIA CONTACT: Raya Steier, 530-723-2426, rsteier@lccrsf.org   ***PRESS RELEASE*** Litigation Victory Signals End to California Courts’ Illegal Late Fees That Penalized Poverty for Profit.   San Francisco, CA- The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California, and Bay Area …

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Investigative journalist uncovers significant additional evidence of “sewer service” by debt buyer ASI

Categories: Attorneys, eNewsletter Story, Homepage, Litigation, News
An independent investigative report in inewsource—a nonprofit news service in San Diego—appears to corroborate and add data to the allegations against debt collector Achievable Solutions, Inc. (ASI) in the suit filed by Bay Area Legal Aid and co-counsel firms Kemnitzer, Barron & Krieg and Bramson, Plutzik, Mahler & Birkhaeuser, LLP. Jake Harper’s April 6th story, …

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Raising Awareness of Financial Scams Targeting API Communities

Categories: eNewsletter Story, Homepage, News
On March 31st, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hosted a briefing in San Francisco to raise awareness of scams targeting API communities. Participants included San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu along with representatives of community organizations, victims of scams, and Bay Area API media. Speakers shared information about financial crimes targeting members of API communities …

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The Bay Area’s Toll Debt Explosion

Categories: Attorneys, Client Story, eNewsletter Story, Homepage, News
A story in yesterday’s East Bay Times and other Bay Area News Group publications by Eliyahu Kamisher features BayLegal attorney Rachel Hoerger and her client Brenda Angulo. Ms. Angulo is one of a growing number of lower-income drivers in the Bay Area affected by the growing web of automated express lane and bridge toll payment …

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Highlighting the Impacts of Inequitable Parking Enforcement

Categories: Advocacy, Attorneys, Client Story, Homepage, News
Car being towed
This March 6th story by Eliyahu Kamisher in the Mercury News digs into the data on parking enforcement practices in the Bay Area’s largest cities. The picture that emerges is one of significant  disparities in the number and likelihood of citations from city to city, with citation and enforcement often inseparable from municipal revenue considerations …

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Protecting Yourself from EBT Skimming

Categories: Announcements, Homepage, News, Resources
Over the last year or so California has seen a huge spike in public benefits being electronically stolen from people’s EBT cards. The California Department of Social Services (CDSS), the state agency that oversees EBT cards and most benefit programs that you can receive on an EBT card, has created this flyer with tips about …

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New Legal Clinic Information and Resources

Categories: Announcements, Homepage, News, Other
BayLegal has updated schedules and availability of our Domestic Violence Restraining Order and Consumer Rights legal clinics. Expanded options for both remote and in-person service are now included on our clinic calendar. We have also developed a full set of multilingual clinic listings and downloadable resources for the Consumer Rights clinics. Please see the calendar …

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Lunar New Year – Celebration, Mourning, and the Need for Change

Categories: eNewsletter Story, Homepage, News
Dear friends and colleagues, Sunday, January 22, was the beginning of the Lunar New Year.  Lunar New Year is celebrated in multiple communities across the Asian Diaspora starting on the first day of the first month in the lunar calendar.  While each culture has its own traditions, unifying components include prioritizing time to connect with …

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What we’re reading: BayLegal’s Hilda Chan quoted in article on Chinese immigrant women survivors of domestic violence

Categories: Attorneys, Homepage, News, Other
This long-form article by Junyao Yang at The China Project profiles Chinese women who have immigrated to the U.S., their struggles to find safety and support across cultural and language barriers, and the legal and advocacy organizations working to help them access legal systems and support networks. Hilda Chan, BayLegal Regional Counsel for Housing Litigation, …

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