| Legal Services NYC |
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For more than 45 years, our staff of talented attorneys, paralegals, social workers and clerical workers have helped low-income New Yorkers navigate the civil legal system. Each year, through our efforts, we have helped more than 10,000 families avoid homelessness and more than 50,000 poor and low-income New Yorkers with a full range of their legal needs. Our network is community-based and includes offices in low-income communities and transportation hubs throughout New York City. |
What's New at Legal Services NYC
January 11, 2012, Brooklyn, NY— South Brooklyn Legal Services (“SBLS,” a
program of Legal Services NYC) and the Fifth Avenue Committee, Inc.,
today announced a precedent-setting State Supreme Court decision holding
that a mortgage holder can be held liable for maintaining building
conditions once a foreclosure is initiated and a receiver is in place.
The New York Times Neediest Cases series focused its attention on Staten Island Legal Services Client Jose Perez and his family. The Perez family had only recently moved into their new home when disaster struck in the form of flooding, which was not covered by insurance. Shortly after, Mr. Perez was diagnosed with renal failure which left him unable to work as the bank began foreclosure proceedings on his home.
January 4, 2012 – In a significant decision that moved toward resolving a longstanding challenge to New York City’s largest affordable housing plan and which may have implications for all future affordable housing developed in the city, a State Supreme Court judge today granted a preliminary injunction barring New York City from moving forward with developing affordable housing on the border of two Brooklyn neighborhoods, Williamsburg and Bedford-Stuyvesant, that would create dramatic racial disparities and increase existing segregation in surrounding neighborhoods.
Queens, NY, December 20, 2011—A group of 46 Queens tenants from a large apartment residence in Jamaica have filed a joint lawsuit in Supreme Court, Queens County, against their landlords, alleging repeated and systemic violations of the New York Rent Stabilization Law, Consumer Protection Act, and NYC Tenant Protection Act designed to effectively force them from their homes to make way for higher-income tenants. The plaintiffs are represented by the Catholic Migration Office and Queens Legal Services (a program of Legal Services NYC).
Brooklyn, NY, December 14, 2011 -- Tenants, community-based organizations, legal service providers (including Legal Services NYC) and elected officials from across Brooklyn came together today to denounce the appalling lack of justice for tenants at Brooklyn Housing Court and to call upon the Office of Court Administration to improve the court’s physical facility, access to information and services, and treatment of tenants at Brooklyn Housing Court. They also gathered to announce the formation of a new coalition, Brooklyn Tenants United, which has come together to address tenant concerns about Brooklyn Housing Court.
South Brooklyn Legal Services (a program of Legal Services NYC) has teamed up with the office of New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio to recruit law firms willing to represent tenants in Brooklyn Housing Court who are in disputes with their landlords over repairs.
