DC Courts Host First-Ever Pop-Up Clinic
The DC Courts' Court Navigator Office hosted its first ever Pop-Up event on April 4th, 2019 in collaboration with the Office of the Tenant Advocate (OTA). The Pop-Up offered pro se litigants the opportunity to ask an attorney questions regarding landlord and tenant rights, to sign-up for free workshops and to obtain relevant landlord and tenant informative brochures.
OTA is an independent government agency that offers free legal advice and limited court representation to residents in DC. OTA has multiple divisions that offer services to landlords, tenants, and pro se litigants in DC. The agency has a legal division, which offers free legal advice; a legislative division, which works with government and non-government officials; an emergency housing division to assist tenants who are victims of fire, distressed finances and/or uninhabitable housing units; and an education and outreach division that holds seminars like “DC Renters’ Rights 101” to provide new tenants an overview of their rights and responsibilities.
The successful Pop-Up event assisted 22 DC residents. The event received positive feedback from those who were assisted saying that this was “extremely helpful and beneficial.” OTA has committed to do a monthly series with the Court Navigator Office and they have another Pop-Up event planned for May. The Court Navigator Office is also planning on hosting events on a variety of topics - including a mental health clinic - in the near future.
The DC Courts' Navigator Program launched in October 2018 with the goal of helping visitors to the DC Courts figure out which office they need to get to in order to complete their business with the court, how to get to the office, which form or forms they may need to fill out and to provide assistance with the forms, as well as helping visitors determine what services are available from the court or by referral, and how to access them. The program currently serves people in the Small Claims and Landlord Tenant Branches, and is located in Room 115 of Court Building B (410 4th Street, NW).