ROCHESTER, N.Y. — News10NBC Consumer Investigative Reporter Deanna Dewberry has been investigating Rochester’s eviction crisis for the better part of three years. Thursday, she went to housing court to attend an eviction hearing for Keshia Ward.

You may remember Dewberry brought you Ward’s story last month. Housing advocates held a protest on the lawn of her rented home. Her landlord has chosen not to renew her lease and Ward is now facing eviction. It’s especially stressful because this retired teacher raising two children says she has incurable breast cancer that has spread to her brain.

Thursday, Ward was scheduled to have her case heard in court, but the judge postponed the hearing because Ward doesn’t have a lawyer. The pro-bono lawyers who usually represent tenants facing eviction told her they can’t represent Ward because they have a conflict of interest. Housing advocates say they’ve encountered this many times before.

“Most cases are heard by Legal Aid. But if Legal Aid doesn’t have the capacity or there is a conflict, then in a lot of cases the tenant ends up without a lawyer and unrepresented against a landlord lawyer who probably is here every single day with thousands and thousands of cases and experienced,” said Lisle Coleman, a tenant organizer.

While Ward says Legal Aid didn’t explain what their conflict of interest was, housing advocates say it’s not uncommon because Legal Aid represents so many folks in our area, in many different situations. Ward now has less than three weeks to find a pro-bono lawyer with another agency. She describes how her stage-four cancer and the pending eviction is affecting her daughters.

“My youngest is at a point now where she’s like can you help me get my associate’s degree while I’m in high school. And get my bachelor’s degree when I’m a freshman in college so I can get my master’s degree and it’s one of those things like oh you’re going to miss out on all the good things. It’s like, mom you got cancer I want to make sure you see everything. It’s one of those things where you kinda get a little stressed out because no child should have to worry if they’re going to be evicted the next day,” Ward said.

Deanna contacted the president and CEO of the Legal Aid Society. While she couldn’t speak to Ward’s case, she says there are instances when her organization can’t represent a tenant because of a conflict of interest. For example, if Legal Aid represented a child in family court, they couldn’t then represent their parent in housing court.

Ward has already contacted the Tenant Defense Project and so far, no luck. It speaks to the incredible number of people who need pro-bono legal help in our city, but she’ll keep looking. Her next court appearance is October 29 and News10NBC will be there.

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