LSNYC Settles Federal Lawsuit against NYCHA on Behalf of Domestic Violence Victims

January 7, 2014, New York, NY— In a major victory for victims of domestic violence, Legal Services NYC advocates have reached a settlement with the New York City Housing Authority (“NYCHA”) requiring the agency to reform its application process, removing obstacles to stable housing for many of the city’s most vulnerable.

Press Coverage: New York Daily News

The suit was filed in March 2013 on behalf of ten plaintiffs who were victims of domestic violence and thus eligible for priority consideration of their applications to NYCHA for public housing. In spite of their urgent need to successfully establish homes for themselves and their children away from their batterers, and NYCHA’s stated policy of granting priority status to victims of domestic violence, many of these applications were being wrongly delayed and denied due to NYCHA’s chronic inability to process them in a timely and competent manner. Applications and documentation were frequently lost, and priority requests often denied without good cause.

Under the settlement, NYCHA will grant the victims of domestic violence (VDV) priority to nine of the plaintiffs and will adjust the effective date of their eligibility for housing to account for delays in the processing of their requests caused by NYCHA. NYCHA will also revise its policies and procedures to provide VDV priority requesters with receipts when they submit supporting documentation relating to their VDV requests; to provide clear notice to VDV priority requesters of defects in their requests or supporting documentation prior to denying their requests and clear reasons when their VDV requests are denied; and to offer an appeal process for VDV priority requesters who are denied the VDV priority. Further, NYCHA will post information online about its wait lists and about the zip codes it will not permit VDV priority requesters to move into for their own safety, so that VDV priority requesters can make informed decisions about borough choice when they apply. NYCHA has also agreed to clarify descriptions of its VDV priority policy. Finally, NYCHA will train its employees on all the new policies and procedures created under the settlement.

“With this settlement, we are hopeful that the thousands of domestic violence victims seeking safe housing each year will have their NYCHA applications processed quickly, without the months and oftentimes years of uncertainty and insecurity that plagued the previous process,” said Terry Lawson of Legal Services NYC-Bronx. “By streamlining NYCHA’s procedures and allowing victims to appeal adverse decisions, this settlement will remove time-consuming and unnecessary obstacles to stable housing for so many of the city’s domestic violence victims.”

The plaintiffs were represented by LSNYC-Bronx and Queens Legal Services, both programs of Legal Services NYC. U.S. District Court Judge Jesse M. Furman ordered final approval of the agreement on Monday.

Contact: Terry Lawson, 718.928.3723, [email protected] 
Beth Baltimore, 718.928.2882, [email protected];
Nanette Schorr, 718.928.3764, [email protected]

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