Legal Assistant

Housing Authority of Kansas City MO•Kansas City, MO

9d•Onsite

About The Position

The Legal Assistant performs office and administrative work for the Legal Department related to the Housing Authority’s management operations and residents’ compliance with HUD regulations, Housing Authority rules and policies, and lease requirements. The role coordinates with the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) and Low-Income Public Housing (LIPH) departments concerning decisions to terminate benefits due to program violations. The position provides assistance to the General Counsel and supports grievance hearings, eviction matters, litigation, debt collection, and legal records administration. The role requires independent judgment and discretion within prescribed procedures and standards, strong research and writing skills, effective communication, customer service, initiative, accountability, teamwork, and the ability to manage multiple deadline-driven matters. Work is primarily in an office, with occasional travel to meetings and hearings. The position may require an unusual work schedule and requires a high degree of confidentiality, drug screening, and a criminal background check. The role has no supervisory responsibilities.

Requirements

Some college supplemented with an administrative certification, one year of relevant experience in a legal setting, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Valid state-issued driver’s license.
Ability to perform the duties using independent judgment and discretion while following prescribed procedures and standards.
Strong research and writing skills for drafting responses, research memoranda, correspondence, and other documents.
Ability to multitask in a deadline-heavy environment and handle several cases or tasks concurrently.
Effective oral and written communication, including face-to-face, telephone, and email communication; ability to identify and resolve or timely escalate issues.
Ability to work with a high degree of confidentiality.
Must pass employment drug screening and criminal background check.

Nice To Haves

College degree preferred.

Responsibilities

Provide assistance to the General Counsel.
Research federal, state, and local laws and regulations concerning housing, and provide written or verbal summaries of new regulations, laws, or procedures.
Maintain Legal Department files relating to resident grievance hearings and eviction processes.
Prepare the grievance hearing and landlord-tenant court dockets, including generating and mailing hearing notifications and documenting scheduled hearings in the Elite system.
Prepare hearing summaries, assist the General Counsel at hearings, generate decision letters for hearing officers, retain hearing recordings, and document hearing decisions in Elite.
Lead the grievance hearing docket.
Maintain data and records for eviction set-outs.
Send eviction cases to outside counsel and calendar court dates; coordinate communication among the General Counsel, Housing Operations property managers and assistant managers, and Public Safety when necessary.
Assign and coordinate collection of judgments with outside legal counsel.
Assist the General Counsel with litigation and coordination with outside counsel on tort, employment, and other claims.
Meet with HCV and LIPH debtors, enter into repayment agreements, collect debts, process payments, issue receipts by mail when applicable, and send late notices.
Create debt-collection files and enter debt and payment data in Elite.
Maintain Missouri Department of Revenue (DOR) and Debt Offset Program (DOP) records for Authority debts; report debts and payments and complete invoicing.
Notify debtors of DOR refund intercepts and communicate with debtors appealing an interception.
Maintain a spreadsheet of payments received from participants, DOP, or other organizations on participants’ behalf.
Communicate with utility companies to verify utility service.
Coordinate all aspects of file-review requests from legal aid.
Report complaints and investigations involving HCV and LIPH lease or program violations to Public Safety.
Perform other related duties as assigned or required to meet department and organizational needs.