PUBLISHED:January 31, 2018

Anderson '18 obtains injunction in housing case for Civil Justice Clinic client

Civil Justice Clinic student Margaret Anderson '18 successfully argued and obtained a preliminary injunction in favor of her client, a tenant suing her landlord for failure to provide adequate heating and electricity over a period of six months. The landlord of the rental property is also alleged to have made inappropriate sexual comments to the tenant when she came to pay her rent. 

At a hearing last week in Durham County District Court, Anderson argued that the landlord had a non-delegable statutory duty to provide heat and electricity. She called two witnesses, the City building inspector and her client, to testify in support of the motion for preliminary injunction and conducted direct examinations of both of them. She also cross-examined the landlord. At the end of the hearing, the judge announced his decision in favor of the clinic's client and ordered that the landlord provide adequate heat and electricity for the premises. 

"This was an excellent result for our client, who is also partially disabled," said Clinic Director Charles Holton.