August MFJ newsletter

Mobilization for Justice

MFJ Restores 94-Year-Old Tenant to His Home after Eviction on Default

When Brigido returned home from attending the funeral of his two sons in Santo Domingo, he found he had been evicted. GOLES, a Lower East Side housing organization where MFJ holds a monthly legal clinic, helped Brigido file a post-eviction order to show cause since he is illiterate. MFJ Supervising Attorney Andrew Darcy, who had helped Brigido in 2015 when the landlord had filed similar spurious claims against him, argued in court that the eviction order should be vacated and Brigido restored to his apartment because someone should have been appointed to assist him in the proceeding given his advanced age, and the fact he never appeared should have raised questions for the court. The judge subsequently ordered Brigido be restored immediately, and he was handed the new keys to his old apartment that evening.

MFJ and AARP File Lawsuit to Stop Discrimination against People Using Wheelchairs

Mobilization for Justice and AARP Foundation filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Fair Housing Justice Center and one adult home resident and her representative against NYS and four adult homes alleging discrimination against people who use wheelchairs. After receiving complaints from residents, FHJC conducted testing at four adult homes and found that they had blanket policies barring wheelchair users, regardless of their individual needs or abilities, and steered those applicants to nursing homes. NYS Department of Health Regulations on this issue, enacted in 1978, have never been updated to comply with federal protections against disability discrimination despite being informed by advocates on multiple occasions over the years that the regulations are unlawful.

Read the NY Times article »

MFJ Lawsuit: Sec. 8 Tenants Forced to Pay 80% of Income for Rent

MFJ and other legal services providers are suing the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development and the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development for problems in the way rent is calculated for tenants receiving enhanced Section 8 vouchers. Through discovery, it was found that more than 800 former Mitchell-Lama residents who receive these vouchers are charged rent that is 80% or more of their income, which is contrary to the law.

MFJ in the News …

New York Law Journal announces Partnership for Children’s Rights’ merger with Mobilization for Justice.
 
MFJ Supervising Attorney Leah Goodridge, one of two tenant representatives on the Rent Guidelines Board, defends her vote for a rent freeze in an Op-Ed in City Limits.

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Masthead photo by Cindy Knoke.

 

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