In October of 2019, Mr. Thomas had one month left to contest NYCHA’s denial of his claim to a lease for his long-term apartment before facing eviction, again. That’s when VOLS stepped in.
Mr. Thomas, now 70, moved into a NYCHA apartment in Brooklyn along with his mother 22 years ago in 1998 – both were disabled. Mr. Thomas suffers from mental impairments that make daily life challenging, and his mother helped him to manage his finances and social and familial relationships. Likewise, Mr. Thomas supported his mother by taking charge of household duties and chores while she suffered from cancer and other physical disabilities. When Mr. Thomas’ mother passed away in 2012, NYCHA began what would become an 8-year long campaign to evict him from his home.
Under limited conditions, NYCHA will recognize the legal tenancy of a “Remaining Family Member” after the tenant of record dies or vacates a NYCHA apartment. NYCHA will do so where the tenant of record requested, and NYCHA provided written permission for the claimant to join the household permanently, so long as at least one year passed between NYCHA granting permission and the tenant of record vacating or passing away.
Mr. Thomas’ mother made several undisputed and well-documented attempts to obtain NYCHA’s written permission for her son to be on the lease but NYCHA never acted on any of her requests.
After the death of his mother in 2012, Mr. Thomas began NYCHA’s formal grievance procedure to obtain a lease as a remaining family member. After inexplicable delays, ultimately NYCHA scheduled an impartial hearing to take place in July of 2015 which they did not notify Mr. Thomas about. He was not present at the hearing, and unsurprisingly, he lost. NYCHA then started eviction proceedings against him just before Christmas of 2016. After several appeals and new hearings, NYCHA was poised to bring another eviction proceeding in February 2019 when VOLS stepped in.
In preparing for our court filing we discovered previously undisclosed evidence, which NYCHA had failed to produce up until this point, in the family’s tenant file. We learned that NYCHA had processed Mr. Thomas’ grievance incorrectly from the start. Instead of considering whether or not Mr. Thomas had a right to a lease, they considered whether or not Mr. Thomas’ sister, who had never lived in the apartment and never claimed to have lived there, was entitled to a lease as a remaining family member. NYCHA concluded she did not have a right to a lease, and then inexplicably moved forward with another eviction case against Mr. Thomas.
When VOLS discovered this violation of Mr. Thomas’ right to due process, we filed an Article 78 against NYCHA and put a stop to the eviction. In response, finally, 4 years after NYCHA’s first eviction case against Mr. Thomas, 8 years after the death of Mr. Thomas’ mother and over 22 years after he first moved into the apartment, NYCHA agreed to offer Mr. Thomas a lease to his home.
Due to his disabilities and extremely low income, Mr. Thomas would face extreme hardship and danger living as a homeless person. Mr. Thomas now has legal recognition of his tenancy and can live without fear of being made homeless by NYCHA for their inexplicable refusal to grant him a lease.