MFJ in the News

MFY Rallies with Bushwick Tenants to End Harassment and Neglect

Scores of tenants at 159 Suydam St. in Brooklyn held a press conference today to publicize their lawsuit against their landlord and their demand that the city appoint a 7-A Administrator to manage their building. For many months the tenants have endured severe harassment and neglect, including illegal evictions and hundreds of uncorrected housing violations. …

Hundreds of Affordable Apartments in Manhattan Are Used as Hotel Rooms

MFY Legal Services’ SRO Law Project is one of the many organizations working to preserve SRO housing and fighting against illegal hotel rooms in SROs, which are a critical part of NYC’s housing stock.  The practice of short-term rentals in residential SROs is widespread on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, significantly contributing to the lack of …

Advocates Troubled over Consolidation of Brooklyn Foreclosure Cases

Advocates voiced concerns over the decision to concentrate foreclosure cases with three judges in Brooklyn Supreme Court, instead of spreading them out among 27 judges as has been the practice. With close to 12,000 cases pending, advocates worry that judges will not be able to spend the time needed to properly analyze and adjudicate the …

MFY Supports Tightening NYC Rules to Protect Tenants during Building Renovations

MFY testified today in support of NY City Council legislation to require landlords to reduce the number of hazardous violations in their buildings before receiving permits for renovation and construction, and to obtain a certificate of no harassment before receiving building permits. These bills merely require what should not be controversial: that landlords ensure the …

Judge Orders Three-Quarter House to Stop Harassing Tenants

A Manhattan judge granted a preliminary injunction barring a three-quarter house landlord from harassing tenants. After three tenants represented by MFY Legal Services won eviction cases in Housing Court, the three-quarter house operator cut off heat, discarded tenants’ food, and required them to move to different rooms every 28 days in an attempt to evade …

MFY Urges NYS to Ban Mandatory Arbitration

In testimony before NYS Assembly committees investigating mandatory arbitration clauses in contracts, MFY Staff Attorney Nicole Arrindell  showed how this system is biased and rigged against low-income consumers and low-wage workers, and urged the Assembly to ban it.

Three-Quarter House Tenants Win Injunction Prohibiting Evictions

Three-quarter house residents represented by MFY won a preliminary injunction prohibiting NRI Group, a large operator, from evicting tenants without court process, mistreating tenants so as to pressure them to move out, and retaliating against tenants who have resisted eviction. Although the tenants had won illegal eviction cases against NRI in housing court, the operator …

MFY Joins Civil Rights Complaint against Success Academy Charter Schools

MFY joined with other advocates and New York City elected officials in a complaint to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights asserting that Success Academy has violated the rights of students with disabilities by failing to identify them or provide reasonable accommodations, by coercing them to leave Success Academy when they require …

Victims of Debt Collection Scheme Win $59 Million Settlement

MFY Legal Services, the New Economy Project and Emery Celli Brinkerhoff & Abady settled a class action lawsuit yesterday on behalf of more than 300,000 victims of abusive debt collection practices in New York State for $59 million. In addition to the fund, some 190,000 judgments are to be vacated.

MFY and Elected Officials Demand Justice for Security Guard with Disabilities

New York City Council Member Annabel Palma, Assembly Member Luis Sepulveda and MFY Legal Services joined forces to advocate for a security guard who was discriminated against and fired after he requested a reasonable accommodation from his employer for his Tourette’s and epilepsy conditions. A complaint of discrimination is pending with the federal Equal Employment …

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