At the the Disaster Relief Dial-A-Lawyer event, questions included "Can I get my security deposit back for an apartment that can't be lived in because of the storm?"
June 22, 2011 - Springfield - Staff photo by Michael S. Gordon - A special Dial-a-Lawyer session at the Western New England College School of Law Wednesday focused on helping victims of the June 1 tornado. Three lawyers visible front to back are Kara S. Rescia, Richard C. Morrissey and Stephen J. Phillips.SPRINGFIELD – The phones at Western New England University School of Law started ringing just as soon as lawyers arrived Wednesday for the Disaster Relief Dial-A-Lawyer and continued on and off all day.
It was a chance for tornado victims to pose questions to lawyers, questions like:
• Can I get my security deposit back for an apartment that can’t be lived in because of the storm?
• Why is my insurance claim taking so long?
• My contractor wants me to take out the building permit in my name. Should I do that?
• My neighbor’s tree has a branch dangling over my property. How can I make them take it down?
“I had to tell one woman that the last thing I did before I came in here today to take phone calls was settle my own homeowners claim for snow and ice damage last winter,” said attorney Richard C. Morrissey, who practices in Springfield. “It takes time.”
Morrissey added that if a building is uninhabitable, the lease is void and the tenant should get the security deposit back.
“If the landlord claims that the tenant caused all the damage, they aren’t going to be getting very much from their insurance company,” said Morrissey, who has also been taking similar calls pro bono at the Hampden County Bar Association offices since the storms hit.
The Hampden County Bar Association, the Massachusetts Bar Association and Western New England University School of Law sponsor regular dial-a-lawyer events twice a year. People can call in and bounce their questions off volunteer lawyers who are forbidden from giving their names or soliciting business, said Jennifer Rosinski, a public relations and marketing manager for the Massachusetts Bar Association.
Rosinski said some lawyers saw their own offices damaged from the June 1 tornadoes.
Western New England provides phone lines and space at the university’s S. Prestley Blake Law Center.
Rosinski said people who have questions can get similar help anytime by calling the Hampden County Bar Association at (413) 732-4648 or at (866) 627-7577.
“We’re just here to help people,” said attorney Stephen J. Phillips of Dunn & Phillips in Springfield and Westfield.
Joseph M. Pacella, of Eagan, Flanagan and Cohen in Springfield, said he got a lot of calls about contractors. Never take out the building permit yourself, he said. Doing so makes the homeowner responsible for code violations and workers compensation on the job site.
He also said homeowners need to know that state law requires that insurers pay to rebuild according to modern building codes. That could mean updating electrical service.
Morrissey said the most heartbreaking calls are from people who lost their identification or immigration documents. For legal immigrants, those documents are very hard-won and precious.
“That identification is worth their lives and they were willing to risk their lives to go back in and get it,” he said.
