Tenants

MFJ Comments on New Airbnb Report

In an article in Bedford + Bowery, MFJ Supervising Attorney Justin LaMort comments on the recently published report from McGill University showing that Airbnb increases rent, quickens gentrification and earns most of its revenue in New York City from illegal rentals. “That there is no difference between the number of illegal listings in 2014 and …

OASAS Leaves Three-Quarter House Residents in Limbo

In this op-ed in City Limits, three-quarter house resident Jasmine Monk describes how tenants in seven houses operated by Interline were left to fend for themselves after Interline operators were indicted for Medicaid fraud. Already poor conditions deteriorated rapidly, with no heat and hot water, and broken locks on doors. While the city stepped in …

MFJ Supports NYC Council Action to Reduce Indoor Asthma Triggers

In testimony before the New York City Council in support of Intro 385, MFJ paralegal Jeff Bohn described how low-income tenants are virtually held hostage in mold-ridden apartments that exacerbate children’s asthma because landlords are not fixing the problem and tenants have nowhere else to go. The bill calls for reclassifying mold to a higher …

MFJ Supports Crown Heights Tenants on Rent Strike

Mobilization for Justice is representing a group of Crown Heights tenants who are waging a rent strike after three winters with no heat. As this report from News 12 Brooklyn shows, the landlord has engaged in serious harassment in an effort to force out rent-stabilized tenants. MFJ Attorney Brian Sullivan said, “They’ve illegally removed five …

WNYC Report: Giving Tenants Their Day in Court

WNYC reporter Beth Fertig spent time in Bronx Housing Court with Mobilization for Justice attorneys examining how the city’s right to counsel in housing court program is working. MFJ attorneys are in the court every Friday offering free legal assistance to low-income tenants who qualify. Over the past three years, representation for tenants has increased …

MFJ Urges City Council to Adopt Law Clearly Defining Tenant Harassment

Mobilization for Justice Staff Attorney Shi Shi Wang testified before the New York City Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings today, supporting Intro. 1721-2017, which will amend the current definition of tenant harassment by landlords to include misrepresenting the condition of a dwelling unit; knowingly misrepresenting work to be performed in a permit application that …

Mobilization for Justice Speaks Out on Tenant Harassment

MFY Supervising Attorney Justin LaMort speaks out on the growing problem of landlord harassment of tenants by construction in this article in Fox Business.  Advocacy by tenant groups and legal services providers spurred the City Council to pass new laws protecting tenants from harassment and strengthening enforcement, and New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman …

Abandoned Tenants Rally to Demand Housing Help

The Queens Times Ledger reported on a rally on Aug. 31 by three-quarter house tenants to fight the threat of homelessness after the NYS Attorney General charged directors of Interline with stealing over $2.3 million in a Medicaid kickback scheme. Tenants, whose housing is now in limbo, rallied to ask the City to provide Special …

Former Narco Freedom Residents Still Wait for Housing

The Daily News reported on July 31, 2017 that many former residents of three-quarter houses operated by the Narco Freedom organization are still waiting for housing. Some 370 out of 1,200 former residents have successfully moved to permanent housing since 2015. Narco Freedom’s operators, Jason and Alan Brand, were arrested on Medicaid fraud and other …

map