If you live in Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin, or Jefferson county, you are within our service area. You MUST first call the Denver office of Colorado Legal Services, at 303-837-1313 to get help.
Members of the CLS staff will conduct a telephone intake interview with you to determine whether you are financially eligible for free or low-fee legal services, and whether your case is the kind we can handle.
If you are eligible for our assistance, CLS will send us the information you provide in the intake process. Then, one of our staff members will work to find you a volunteer lawyer to represent you, and you will be contacted by our staff or that lawyer.
Each volunteer attorney will also have to conduct an interview with clients referred to them and perform conflict checks prior to agreeing to represent anyone. Once an attorney agrees to represent you, he or she will most likely ask you to sign a statement of understanding regarding the scope of the representation that they will provide.
Qualifying for pro bono legal services through MVL does not guarantee the provision of legal services. Any client can decline to be represented by any attorney and any attorney can decline to represent any client.
Resources for Access to the Courts for People with Disabilities
Click here for a Guide to the Colorado Judicial Branch’s directive, policy, guidelines, and other information. Attorneys have responsibilities to provide deaf clients with sign language interpreters and other accommodations that they may need to communicate. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which went into effect on January 26, 1991. Title III of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. §12181 – 12183, provides people with disabilities the right to equal access to public accommodations. Both Title III of the ADA, and the U.S. Department of Justice regulation pursuant to Title III, 28 C.F.R. Part 36, specifically include the offices of lawyers in the definition of public accommodations. 42 U.S.C. §12181; 28 C.F.R. §36.104. Click the following link for more information: http://www.nad.org/issues/justice/lawyers-and-legal-services
Are debt collectors contacting you?
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) requires that debt collectors treat you fairly. Under the FDCPA, a debt collector is someone who regularly collects debts of others, such as a collection agency. It covers personal, family, and household debts, including credit card bills, auto loans, medical bills, and mortgages. It prevents debt collectors from calling you at odd hours, calling your workplace, using false statements, or engaging in other unfair practices. The collector must provide you with a “validation notice” telling you how much you owe, the name of the creditor to whom you owe the money, and how to proceed if you don’t think you owe the money.
Both Colorado and the Federal Government have enacted their own FDCPA. So you may report any problems with debt collectors to the Colorado Attorney General‘s office and the Federal Trade Commission. The following links provide more information:
Colorado Attorney General’s website: http://www.ago.state.co.us/CADC/CADCmain.cfm.html
Federal Trade Commission’s website: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre18.shtm
Colorado Collection Agency Board
1525 Sherman Street, 7th Floor Denver, CO 80203 Phone: (303) 866-5706 Phone (Consumer complaints): (303) 866-5304 Fax: (303) 866-5691One of the most common problems concerning debt collection is harassment by a collection agency. The debt collector may not contact the consumer if the consumer sends a letter telling the debt collector to stop except to say there will be no further contact or to notify the consumer that the debt collector or the creditor intends to take some specific action. Sending such a letter to a collector does not m ake the debt go away if the consumer actually owes it. Collection agencies also may not threaten or harass and complaints should be directed to the Collection Agency Board. See Consumer Rights Information – English/Spanish.
A brochure on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is available from the Federal Trade Commission at: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/fdc.htm
Stressed? Need to Talk?
If you need affordable counseling to deal with the stress that comes with having a serious legal issue, visit www.peoplehouse.org
