Low-Income Seniors Challenge New York City Housing Authority Evictions

May 30, 2012, Bronx, NY— Three Bronx senior citizens have filed suit in federal court, challenging the New York City Housing Authority’s efforts to evict them for allegedly refusing to move to smaller apartments. The plaintiffs, represented by Legal Services NYC-Bronx, deny that they have refused to move, and maintain that NYCHA uses flawed procedures in its efforts to move tenants from apartments it deems too large.

 Click here to listen to Amy Leipzinger discussing the case on WBAI’s Housing Notebook.

Ana Alameda, Georgina DeJesus, and Aglael Cabrera allege that NYCHA violates constitutional due process protections and federal housing law by failing to notify tenants that it may evict them if they do not accept the first apartment they are shown, not informing them of their federally-guaranteed right to a hearing when they are selected for an involuntary transfer, and failing to provide local housing project managers with guidance about how to choose which “underoccupied” tenants will be required to move and which will be exempted from the requirement.

Moreover, NYCHA often ignores tenants’ requests to add family members to their households at the same time it claims that the apartments are too big for the household size. Tenants affected by NYCHA’s efforts to move residents into smaller units are often long-term residents and senior citizens whose children have moved out. In some cases, however, these senior citizens actually need and have requested to have children or grandchildren added back to their households to help care for them.

Ms. Alameda is 78 years old and has lived in her NYCHA apartment for thirty-six years.  For twelve years, she has been asking to have her son and grandson added to her household.  Rather than responding to her requests, NYCHA has notified her that her apartment is “extremely underoccupied” and has informed her that it intends to terminate her tenancy for breach of its rules and regulations. Similarly, Ms. DeJesus is 60 years old and has lived in her apartment for over ten years.  She suffers from dementia due to the aftereffects of a stroke.  She has asked to add her adult granddaughter to her household to help care for her.  NYCHA has denied that request and has instead moved to terminate her tenancy due to extreme underoccupancy.

“Our clients are not saying NYCHA cannot require tenants to live in an appropriately-sized apartment,” said Amy Leipziger, a staff attorney at Legal Services-NYC Bronx. “They simply expect that after years —often decades— of being tenants in good standing that NYCHA will work with them to find an apartment that meets their needs, including the need to live with family if they are very old or ill. They don’t expect NYCHA to throw them out on the street in their old age without proper notice and an opportunity to tell their side of the story when they are selected for involuntary transfer.”

The suit was filed on May 29th. Plaintiffs are seeking a court order requiring NYCHA to provide clear notice to tenants of the potential consequences of not accepting an involuntary transfer and of their right to challenge a decision to require them to transfer; clear guidance to NYCHA staff regarding how tenants should be chosen for involuntary transfers; and prompt action on requests to add family members to tenant households.  They also ask that NYCHA’s efforts to evict them be placed on hold until the case is decided.

###