Atlanta Legal Aid Society (“Legal Aid”) seeks a HUD-Certified Housing Counselor/Paralegal for its Home Defense Program. Our non-profit law firm represents low-income persons in a variety of civil legal matters including family, housing, consumer, public benefits, education and health law. The Home Defense Program assists individuals and families to prevent the loss of their home through foreclosure, predatory mortgage lending, or home sale scams. The Home Defense Program is housed within Legal Aid’s Decatur office, this is an in-office position. The unit currently consists of three full-time attorneys, one part-time attorney, one HUD-certified housing counselor/paralegal, and a paralegal.
Responsibilities:
Case intake and management, including answering the phone, conducting initial client intakes and interviews, gathering documentation, and presenting cases to the staff attorneys and at case acceptance meetings
Housing counseling, financial analysis, budgeting, and action planning for low and moderate-income homeowner and homebuyer clients whose cases are taken for representation
Assist attorneys with document preparation and execution, discovery, depositions and hearings, and other paralegal and clerical work
Provide clients with information and advice under the strict supervision of an attorney
Review and analyze applications for appropriate loss mitigation and foreclosure prevention options, such as deferrals, forbearances, partial claims, loan modifications, and/or mortgage assistance programs
Data management, including entering information into Legal Aid’s database and retrieving relevant data
File management, including scanning documents into the client database, digital organization, filing, and archiving closed cases
Ensure grant compliance, organize data and documentation required for grants, and assist in the preparation of periodic reports
Conduct deed and lien searches
Maintain a community outreach schedule and community education materials
Other tasks as assigned
Salary and Benefits:
This position offers a salary of $56,500, but may vary (up or down) depending on work experience. Salaries are reviewed annually and may be adjusted based on available funding
Generous fringe benefits, including 16 paid holidays in 2026, 6 weeks of paid time off (accruing at 2.5 days per month), and 6 weeks of parental leave (12 weeks after one year)
Individual health insurance, including optional dental and vision coverage, with partial payment for dependent health insurance
Life, long-term, and short-term disability insurance
Salary reduction option for a flexible spending account
Educational loan reimbursement up to $600 per month (after a set off of other loan reimbursement amounts)
Voluntary tax-sheltered annuity with a 3% match
This position may be eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness through the U.S. Department of Education
Must be a HUD-Certified Housing Counselor
An undergraduate degree or paralegal certificate is preferred, but not required
Prior housing counselor experience, paralegal or legal assistant experience strongly preferred
Prior experience with law office management software strongly preferred
Demonstrated commitment to public service and previous work with low-income people, with an appreciation for diversity, is strongly preferred
Must be patient, compassionate, and possess excellent problem-solving skills
Excellent interpersonal, written and verbal communication, listening, and organizational skills
Must be industrious, dependable, organized, adaptable, detail-oriented, with the ability to complete tasks within the applicable deadline
Proficiency in Google Workspace and a willingness to learn new legal data tools
Demonstrated ability to work independently and in a collaborative team model
Proficiency in languages other than English, specifically Spanish, is highly valued
Application Requirements: Submit a letter of interest, resume, documentation of HUD-certified housing counselor status, writing sample, official school transcript (a copy is acceptable pending your order of an official transcript), and the names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of three professional references (preferably individuals who have supervised or managed your work) with a brief statement as to the connection to the applicant, as one (1) PDF using our online application system at the following link: Atlantalegalaid.org/jobs. Only applications with all requested documents will be considered for an interview.
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