The Boston Bar Association is expanding its efforts to represent low-income landlords in housing court through its "Lawyer For A Day" Program, the group announced.

The Lawyer for a Day program was founded in 1999 to provide representation in housing court to tenants and landlords who cannot afford counsel, with the goal of helping to prevent homelessness. It  is staffed by volunteers.

Unrepresented landlords "are frequently immigrants with limited English proficiency who depend on the rent to pay mortgages on owner-occupied two or three family homes," wrote J.D. Smeallie, president of the Boston Bar Association, in an article describing the program. "Missed rental payments can put them at risk of foreclosure.  Indeed, there are situations where landlord owners of small multi-family homes can be in a tighter financial situation than their tenants."

This month, the Lawyer for the Day program will expand its services to low income landlords, dedicating one Monday a month to them.  A main focus will be on helping landlords fill out the necessary legal documents to stat the eviction process and keep it running smoothly, since unrepresented landlords often make simple mistakes that make it impossible for them to prevail in their cases — resulting in wasted filing fees for people who can least afford them and inefficiency for a busy court.

During the 13 year history of the Lawyer for the Day program at the BHC, 1,200 volunteers have donated their time to assist more than 14,732 individuals. In just the past year alone, 443 volunteers helped 991 tenants and 181 landlords.