Legal advocacy groups say supportive housing providers have continued pursuing eviction cases against formerly homeless New Yorkers — even after the Mamdani administration told them to stop, except in severe situations.
Two months ago the city issued guidance to landlords and housing providers instructing them to intervene early when residents fall behind on rent and only go to housing court as a last resort. But since then, supportive housing landlords sought nearly 70 eviction warrants, according to Legal Services NYC, which began tracking eviction cases late in 2024.
“The providers are simply ignoring the guidance,” said Craig Hughes, a social worker with Legal Services NYC, which offers free legal help to low-income New Yorkers. “In some cases they are not aware of it.”
Now the organization along with other housing advocates are calling on the city to pause all eviction cases in supportive housing for 90 days. They say the break will allow the city to make sure all supportive housing providers understand — and follow — the guidance, and spare tenants from eviction when alternative housing options are slim and the city’s shelter system experiences near record numbers.
City officials didn’t respond to whether they would tell providers to pause cases but said they take every eviction seriously and were working to make their expectations clear to providers.
City Hall spokesperson Matt Rauschenbach said the administration was “committed to doing everything in our power to keep New Yorkers stably housed and in their homes.” He said the mayor is “on the side of tenants” and was continuing to find ways to support vulnerable renters.
Supportive housing units receive a mix of federal, state and city dollars to subsidize apartments for formerly homeless New Yorkers and provide added services such as counseling and case management. Tenants, many of whom have disabilities or mental illnesses, pay 30% of their income toward rent while the rest is subsidized.
“We're talking about the most vulnerable and the most marginalized New Yorkers. This is like the fail-safe, bottom-level safety net. And if the city is not stepping up there, then like who is?” said Sandra Gresl, a senior staff attorney at Mobilization for Justice, a legal services group.
The Supportive Housing Network of New York, an industry group representing 200 providers statewide, didn’t comment.
The group previously told Gothamist providers were already following much of what was outlined in the guidance. But that the city, too, needed to more quickly approve tenants for emergency one-time assistance when they fall behind on rent. Those applications can lag and providers say often taking a tenant to housing court forces the city to speed up the process.
Supportive housing providers say paying rent is part of the deal and allows them to keep their buildings running and ability to provide services to tenants.
Legal Services said since December 2024, more than 875 supportive housing tenants have received eviction warrants, and more than 275 have been evicted — most over failure to pay rent.
The guidance, issued by the city’s health, social services and housing agencies, which fund and oversee supporting housing, outlined the minimum steps housing providers should take before taking someone to court. That includes issuing written notices, providing financial literacy, helping tenants enroll in automatic payment deductions and helping tenants enroll and renew their benefits, which often helps cover their portion of the rent.
But housing advocates said the guidance lacked any teeth to force housing providers to comply.
After seeing the rate of eviction warrants continue, groups issued a letter to Helen Arteaga, the deputy mayor for health and human services, and Leila Bozorg, the deputy mayor for housing and planning. They asked for a pause and flagged several eviction cases including one in which a tenant was being taken to court over $1,600, and another over $215 in monthly rent for a tenant who had just aged out of foster care.
City agencies said they had met and were in communication with providers to inform them of the guidance and were training providers on how to help tenants navigate the public benefits portal to more quickly get rental assistance and other public benefits. City officials also said they’re working on collecting more comprehensive data on evictions to better address the scale of the problem and working with the courts to make sure supportive housing tenants have legal support during proceedings.
Hughes said 16 supportive housing tenants were scheduled to be evicted through next Thursday, and most of them didn’t have attorneys.
“The city has not at this point responded in a way that recognizes this crisis,” said Hughes.
“It is a crisis that is worsening, and it's a crisis that the city has culpability in. The city funds these providers.”
