Keith King

Keith King
“if it wasn’t for her, I would have been homeless again.”

Keith King, who had spent almost a decade of his life experiencing homeless, found himself once again facing the prospect being without housing when he came home to an eviction notice on his door. He was told he had nine days to leave his apartment. Mr. King’s landlord sued him for nonpayment of rent but never notified him of the eviction lawsuit. Further, the allegedly owed rent at the heart of the matter should have been paid by Mr. King’s subsidy provider, which had apparently and unjustifiably stopped making payments.

That’s when Legal Aid DC Housing Law Unit Staff Attorney Eleni Christidis stepped in. Eleni argued and won a motion to vacate the default judgment that had been entered against Mr. King, thereby stopping the eviction.

At the same time, Legal Aid DC advocated for Mr. King with the DC Department of Human Services to switch his subsidy provider and to help him find him a new apartment. Today Mr. King is in a stable situation, living in the same neighborhood where he grew up – blocks away from his old elementary school – surrounded by friends and family.