Client stories

A married couple, “Joan” and “Michael”, were referred to GBLS’ Cambridge and Somerville office (CASLS) two days before their eviction trial for nonpayment of rent. They had already missed their “Answer deadline,” which meant they had not asserted any defenses or filed counterclaims, and thus were…

“Huong”, a grandmother from Vietnam, came to the U.S. on a tourist visa in November 2006 to visit her sister, never intending to stay. A few months later she met “Tung” who was very charming. The relationship progressed quickly, and Huong agreed to marry him and stay in the U.S. Tung then  promised…

"Margaret" was a successful real estate broker when multiple misfortunes changed her from a contributing member of society to just hanging on while homeless. After many years, settling her considerable tax debts helped restart her onto a productive path. In the early 2000s Margaret was selling…

With the assistance of Greater Boston Legal Services and two non-profit partners, "Taylor Brown" and his daughter "Lisa" successfully got their Dorchester three-family home back after undergoing two unlawful foreclosures. In response to the foreclosure crisis, GBLS along with other legal services…

A native of Peru, Joanna came to the United States to marry her fiancé, an American citizen. Unfortunately, soon after the marriage, her husband became physically and emotionally abusive, forcing Joanna and her son to flee. After escaping the violence, she was diagnosed with a degenerative eye…

Countless articles and reports over the past few years have detailed the predatory lending by some mortgage brokers at the height of the housing boom. One recent case involves "Andrea" and her brother "Raymond." Raymond and Andrea, siblings from El Salvador entered into a $500,000 adjustable rate…

After his search for justice for his father’s murder led to government officials torturing him nearly to death, “Bosco” fled to the U.S. from Rwanda.  He was a child when the genocide in Rwanda broke out in 1994.  Bosco’s Hutu father was brutally murdered when the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA)…

“Charlene”, a single mother of a 14-year-old daughter, came to GBLS when she was desperate. She was facing eviction for not paying her rent as a result of her Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC) benefits being terminated through no fault of her own. Charlene had been…

"Mary" is a client who was severely physically and verbally abused by her partner “Ralph”. When Mary suffered from post-partum depression after the birth of their son “Sam”, Ralph convinced Mary to sign over custody of Sam. He then proceeded to throw Mary and her older son out of the house. Ralph…

After the Department of Children and Families (DCF) social worker recovered from the shock of a district court judge denying a restraining order to protect “Victoria” and her three-year-old autistic daughter from an abusive and alcoholic husband, she assured Victoria that there was still hope. …