Greetings from Executive Director Tiffany Liston
Dear MFJ Friends and Supporters,
The warmer weather is finally here in New York City, and it could not have arrived sooner! This past winter seemed endless. Here at MFJ we are fighting for our clients during one of the most challenging seasons in recent history. We have been doing this work for over 60 years, but the urgency at this moment is palpable. As the rule of law remains under threat, we are prioritizing holistic, comprehensive legal support, working closely with local community-based partners, and holding clinics to ensure New Yorkers know their rights and can enforce them. To that end, Mobilization for Justice continues to advocate—and win—for our clients, as several of the cases below demonstrate.
With gratitude,
Tiffany A. Liston
Some Great Wins for MFJ Clients!
Winning Educational Supports for a Struggling Teenager
MFJ staff attorney Sandra went to great lengths to help her client. JS is a 16-year-old diagnosed with autism, ADHD, and sensory processing disorder, who has struggled for years with complex behaviors, including fire-setting, that left him without a safe or supportive environment. These challenges eventually led him into the juvenile justice system and months of in-patient care at a state psychiatric hospital with no discharge plan in sight.
Despite a recommendation from the New York City Department of Education (DOE) for a residential, therapeutic placement, every program turned JS away because they were unable to meet his specialized needs. MFJ represented JS and his parents to secure funding from the DOE for a rare residential program set up to treat and support youth with fire-setting behaviors. When the DOE refused to fund the program, Sandra represented the family in a due process proceeding to secure the tuition funding. After a hard-fought hearing, the family received a fully favorable decision: the DOE was ordered to fund JS’s placement at the therapeutic residential school. JS is no longer in the hospital; he’s finally in a safe, supportive therapeutic environment where he is receiving the treatment and education he has needed for years.
Saving an apartment for a client in a health crisis
MFJ advocate Raquel, on very short notice, succeeded in getting our client, Mr. Z, a $32,000 payment approval after he faced imminent eviction, with nowhere else to go.
Mr. Z sought succession rights to his rent-stabilized apartment, after his brother, the former tenant, passed away in 2023. The case was settled in March 2024, with an agreement that Mr. Z would get a lease if he paid $20,000 in rent arrears, which he fully intended to pay. By the fall, the landlord obtained a judgment based on the arrears, which by then was $27,000. Unfortunately, around that time, Mr. Z was injured at work and completely lost his income. He was also struggling with complications from diabetes and was in and out of the hospital over the next few months for various procedures. Due to these health issues, Mr. Z also struggled to obtain assistance for a small housing grant to assist in making payments. In March, the landlord formally evicted him.
From that point on, Raquel took charge of Mr. Z’s subsequent application. She wrote multiple advocacy emails and letters over several weeks, stressing the urgency of Mr. Z’s situation. She stayed on the case to confirm that the application was up-to-date and under review. Finally, Raquel was notified of approval for the $32,000 payment in arrears to date. The city Human Resources Administration (HRA) would almost certainly not have approved the application without Raquel’s advocacy and persistence. Mr. Z is extremely grateful and relieved, as, like so many, he would have been homeless had MFJ not intervened.
Fighting a Notorious Landlord for Apartment Repairs
The tenant’s apartment had been in a state of disrepair for several years prior to a 2020 non-payment proceeding, the landlord having ignored the tenant’s past requests to repair the premises. Among many problems, there were vermin infestations, cracked and peeling walls, non-working lights, leaking cracks in the bathroom walls, and many other problems. MFJ Attorney Alex obtained the rent history and discovered that there also had been a rent reduction order in place for $636.50 from June 1993.
During the current case, the tenant was being sued for $1,750, eventually increased to $2,475, as the landlord asserted the apartment was no longer under the rent control system. In fact, the landlord had fraudulently filed a new Department of Housing and Community Renewal rent registration number for the subject premises, using a random identification number instead of the actual apartment number, as a deceitful way to make it look like the apartment had been taken out of the rent control system.
In April 2023, the Housing Court Judge approved Alex’s motion granting discovery and dismissing the petition. Afterward, the landlord’s attorneys never produced a single document, and a contempt motion was eventually filed after numerous adjournments. Eventually, concrete attempts at settlement were made. However, the landlord’s stubbornness and the tenant’s reluctance to go to trial resulted in about three months of negotiations with a last-minute about face a few days before settlement. The final result was a happy tenant! The apartment was repaired to her liking, she received a rent credit in the amount of over $58,000, and her rent was lowered with a 2-year lease starting in May 2025.
MFJ Advocates Go Above and Beyond
MFJ advocate Raquel’s clients were a family of asylum seekers who recently welcomed their first baby into their family. They called 311 because they had leaks and flooding in their apartment and the landlord refused to make repairs. When representatives from New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) came, they deemed the apartment unsafe and ordered the occupants to vacate immediately, because it was not a legal dwelling. The agency refused to provide the family with emergency relocation services, claiming that there was not sufficient documentation to support their entry into an HPD emergency shelter.
Raquel, in partnership with Councilmember Sandy Nurse’s office, advocated with HPD to accept the documentation the family provided. Ultimately HPD approved the request. Afterwards, Raquel also assisted the family in recovering their belongings, visiting the apartment herself to obtain baby items and lifesaving seizure medication over the landlord’s violent objection. She is currently advocating with HRA and charities to obtain funds for storage for the rest of their belongings, while the family is in a hotel awaiting entry into an emergency shelter.
MFJ’s Fight for Consumer Protections Continues
A lot has happened recently with the fight for greater consumer protections for New Yorkers. New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced a new version of an “unfair or deceptive acts or practices” (UDAP) law that MFJ fully supports. The Fostering Affordability and Integrity through Reasonable Business Practices Act (“FAIR Business Practices Act”) aims to revise Article 22-A of New York’s General Business Law, most notably to add prohibitions of “unfair” and “abusive” business practices. Under New York State’s current UDAP law, “deceptive” acts or practices are unlawful, but “unfair” and “abusive” practices are not expressly prohibited, unlike many other states’ UDAP statutes. They don’t call this the “Empire State” for nothing!
The new FAIR Business Practices Act is written to be comprehensive: the Act defines “unfair” and “abusive” with language similar to that in the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA). This bill would not only protect consumers but businesses and non-profits as well. It also permits the attorney general to bring an action against any person conducting business or providing services in New York. Co-championed by State Senator Leroy Comrie and Assemblymember Micah Lasher, passage of this measure is especially critical to safeguard New Yorkers at a time when the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Trade Commission—charged with regulating business practices and protecting consumers nationally—are being stripped of their powers by the Trump Administration.
“New York’s bedrock consumer protection law is intended to protect New Yorkers from new and evolving scams across all economic activity, but in practice it has fallen short, leaving gaps where scam victims have no recourse to get their money back, while making it profitable to continue abusing people,” explained MFJ Senior Staff Attorney Ariana Lindermayer. “The FAIR Business Practices Act will close these gaps and catch New York up with the 42 states with privately enforceable unfairness bans. Honest businesses and everyday New Yorkers will welcome real protection from predatory businesses and competitors.”
Mobilization for Justice 2025 Gala & Comedy Revue Coming Soon!
MFJ is putting the final touches on its very first Gala and Comedy Revue, scheduled for the evening of Tuesday, June 10—just 2 weeks away! The event will take place at Sony Hall on 46th Street in midtown Manhattan.
As we do every year, we are looking forward to a fun, exciting, as well as educational, evening of cocktails, dinner, and entertainment. But this year is going to be really special, with over an hour of the very best up and coming comedians trying to make a room full of New York City’s toughest lawyers laugh!
As always, all sponsorships, tickets, journal ads, and contributions support the essential legal work of Mobilization for Justice. Please purchase tickets, journal ads, or make a contribution to support the event right here.
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