NYC tenant protection programs will serve over 113,000 individuals a year when fully implemented
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a $12.3 million on homelessness prevention services to expand free legal representation in Housing Court and help thousands of New Yorkers facing eviction or harassment stay in their homes.
“The economic recovery that so many New Yorkers are enjoying now hasn't reached everyone. Too many families are becoming homeless for purely economic reasons – their wages are flat while their rent is steep,” said Mayor de Blasio. “With these programs, we are intervening early to keep families in their homes before shelter becomes their only option.”
The two City-funded legal service programs total to $46.3 million in Fiscal Year 2016, growing to $61.8 million in Fiscal Year 2017 – ten times the $6 million that was spent on anti-eviction programs in Fiscal Year 2013. The two programs will serve 32,700 households a year – over 113,000 individuals – when fully implemented.
In Fiscal Year 15, over 62,000 individuals were enrolled in HomeBase, a proven homelessness prevention program that connects families and individuals on the brink of homelessness to resources to help keep them in their homes. Over 35,000 individuals were supported through the City’s anti-eviction legal services and tenant protection program.
“Too often, low-income tenants in Housing Court without a lawyer face a landlord with a lawyer and that, rather than the facts or the law, determines the outcome. Our expanded program will protect more families and individuals and prevent additional New Yorkers from becoming homeless by keeping them in their homes and preserving affordable housing. As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” said Human Resources Administration Commissioner Steven Banks.
“Prevention is one of our core strategies to stop homelessness before it begins,” said Homeless Services Commissioner Gilbert Taylor. “Expanding programs like these are crucial to ensuring that families remain in their homes and communities.”
Families with children comprise the largest proportion of the City’s shelter census, accounting for over 40,000 individuals – including over 23,000 children – of the approximately 57,000 total individuals shelter. Eviction is one of the leading causes of homelessness for families with children. 30 percent of the heads of households for families with children in shelter are actively employed, and 46 percent of the heads of households for families with children in shelter (including those actively employed) had been employed within the past year. Women lead 91 percent of the families with children in shelter.
The City’s civil legal services programs have been consolidated at HRA. New York City has two anti-eviction and tenant protection legal services programs, both housed at HRA:
· Anti-Eviction Legal Services: $25.8 million (including the new $12.3 million) in FY16. Fully implemented, this program will serve 19,000 households each year. This program is aimed at communities in which the highest numbers of children and adults are losing their homes and entering shelter.
· Anti-Harassment Tenant Protection Program: $20.5 million in FY16, increasing to $36 million in FY17 and serving more than 13,700 households each year when fully implemented. This program is aimed at preventing tenant harassment in communities that will be designated for rezoning and was announced by the Mayor in the State of the City.
The additional $12.3 million will allow the Anti-Eviction Legal Services program to expand in the following areas:
- Brooklyn: Bedford Stuyvesant, Bushwick, Crown Heights
- Manhattan: Central and West Harlem
- Queens: Jamaica and South Jamaica
- Bronx: Tremont and Williamsbridge
- Staten Island: Port Richmond and Mariner’s Harbor
The City is re-launching a homeless prevention public awareness campaign, “Imagine” – targeting 15 communities with residents most likely to enter homeless shelters and encouraging those at risk to access HomeBase services. The ads depict families with children in housing crises, asking parents to “Imagine being forced out of your home. Now imagine seeing your kids go through it.” This outreach is intended to encourage families with children and individuals to access prevention services early on, averting the need for shelter. Beginning in January of this year and running through April of this year, the campaign appeared on television and in print and was featured on subways, buses, and check-cashing facilities.
“Ending homelessness in New York City won’t be easy, but to start we must significantly increase efforts to ensure that people don’t lose their homes to begin with. As Chair of the Council’s Housing and Buildings Committee, my goal has been to address our City’s housing crisis, so I commend Mayor de Blasio for drastically expanding legal services so that tenants facing eviction or harassment receive the help they need before it’s too late,” said Council Member Jumaane D. Williams, Chair of the Committee on Housing and Buildings.
“Homelessness is the unspoken effect of tenant harassment and unfair evictions. When we turn a blind eye to the behaviors of unscrupulous landlords we are in effect ignoring one of the root causes of the growing homelessness crisis in our City. I commend Mayor de Blasio for his determination to stop this crisis where it starts. The $12.3 million his administration is dedicating to anti eviction legal services will go a long way to curb homelessness in New York and improve the inequities in rights among renters in our City,” said Council Member Vanessa Gibson.
"With additional money for legal services, we will be able to keep more needy New Yorkers in their homes helping to stem the tide of homelessness. The Mayor has shown incredible leadership ensuring that more New Yorkers in need will have these important services," said Seymour James, Attorney-in-Chief at the Legal Aid Society.
“Tenant protections are critical to stabilizing families, maintaining vibrant communities and preserving affordable housing,” said Joanne M. Oplustil, President & CEO of CAMBA/ CAMBA Housing Ventures. “We are grateful and enthusiastic that Mayor de Blasio is making such a strong commitment to renters throughout New York City.”
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