I think I need mediation. What do I do?

What is Mediation?

Mediation Matters:
A Success Story

Mediation and
Small Claims Court

Mediation Matters

A landlord/tenant mediation success story

People often ask us what we actually do at the mediation center, and often comment that the process is hard to imagine without stories to illustrate it.  Talking specifics about the work is difficult because of the sensitive nature of many of the cases that come through our doors, as well as our obligation to preserve client privacy and confidentiality.  In response to such questions, however, and with the permission of our clients, we have decided to begin publishing a description of a recently conducted mediation session in each newsletter.  Names and other identifying information are changed to protect confidentiality.  What follows below is a description of a mediation that took place this spring.
        
Sylvia and Dan called CMCRI in desperation.  They had fallen several months behind on rent, their landlord had taken them to court on an eviction complaint, and they had agreed to make a partial payment by a specific date to prevent the eviction.  That date had passed, they did not have the money to pay the landlord, and the landlord had threatened to call the sheriff to remove the couple and their belongings. 

CMCRI approved the couple, neither of who was working due to a lay-off and complications from surgery, for rental assistance in the amount of the partial payment owed to the landlord.  CMCRI staff was then able to convince the landlord to come to the Center the following day to engage in a mediation session to discuss the remainder of rent owed and to negotiate a payment plan for the balance. 

The parties had initially shared an excellent relationship, which deteriorated as tensions arose around the rent issue.  Following the mediation, the landlord wrote CMCRI a thank you note, and the tenants commented in a written evaluation, “with the help of your mediators we were able to talk to our landlord, come to a better understanding with her, and repair the relationship.  We were also given a second chance to keep our apartment, start fresh with her, and come to an agreement on paying the back rent.” 

In a follow-up interview conducted by CMCRI staff two months after the mediation, all the parties report that the tenants remain current on their rent, have maintained the payment plan, and continue to believe that the mediation process was enormously helpful both in preventing the eviction and in preserving the relationship.