Legal help is just a phone call away, if you need it.

Legal Aid of North Carolina will have a “Housing Information for Tenants” workshop on July 30 at 10:30 a.m. at the Hamlet Housing Authority located at 1104 Fisher Ave. At 12:30 p.m. the program will be held at the Leath Memorial Library in Rockingham in the Wall Room located at 412 E. Franklin St. Both of the workshops are free.

The workshops will give those interested, a chance to learn about the eviction process before and after the magistrate hearing.

To be eligible for legal aid services the family income must fall below 125 percent of the federal poverty guidelines which are between $40,711 to $10,830 depending on family size. Though, the income level requirements typically do not apply to domestic violence victims or senior citizens. Other exceptions may apply as well.

The workshop presenters will be college interns: Jane Xia, second year student at Duke Law; Kim McGann and Kevin Joyce, both second year students at UNC Law; Angie Spong, a third year student at UNC Law and Judith Washington of Legal Aid of North Carolina.

“I think that this will provide low income citizens with the footing even if they have no access to the courts,” McGann said.

LANC provides free legal representation in civil matters (non-criminal) to eligible clients in all 100 counties in North Carolina through 24 geographically based offices and six statewide projects. They help children, families and individuals solve problems that affect their basic needs.

“We are having this because some of our clients in this area have been faced with evictions,” Washington said. “This is also to inform those individuals that we are not able to represent.”

LANC offices provide legal assistance to eligible clients in civil (non-criminal) cases in the following basic areas: Consumer, education, family, health care, housing, income maintenance and wills/estate planning.

“This workshop is to inform the attendants of their responsibilities and their rights, of what they should and should not do,” Joyce said. “This would benefit the landlords and the tenants.”

The LANC will also have a consumer workshop on financial and money matters on July 29 at the Leath Memorial Library in Rockingham from 1 to 3 p.m. It will start with a discussion on credit protection, prioritizing and identity theft.

“This is for those that may have trouble meeting their monthly obligations,” said Christopher Brown of LANC. “It will inform the public of what their options are after they get into debt.”

The workshop will also cover what a person can do to protect his or her assets if a lawsuit is filed against him or her by creditors. There will also be a brief discussion on mortgage foreclosure.

For more information call (919) 542-0475 or go to their website at legalaid.nc.org.

Hollie Nivens can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 19 or by e-mailing at hnivens@yourdailyjournal.com