Pro Bono News

Legal Aid Society Wants NYCHA to Refund Rent for Tenants Affected by Heat Outages

Monday, February 12, 2018

Legal Aid Society Wants NYCHA to Refund Rent for Tenants Affected by Heat Outages

"The Legal Aid Society is demanding that the New York City Housing Authority provide up to $15 million in rent refunds to public housing tenants that lost heat during the city’s cold front.

During a recent City Council meeting, data obtained from the NYCHA revealed that 323,098 public housing residents were without heat at some point between October 1 and January 22, with the average outage lasting for 48 hours. A significant portion of the outages occurred on some of the season’s coldest days where temperatures fell below freezing.

The New York Times reports that the Legal Aid Society sent a letter to NYCHA, threatening to take “necessary legal action” unless the issue is solved by February 21. Based on the average monthly rent of $509 per month, their lawyers believe that the NYCHA should shell out anywhere from $2.5 million to $15 million in rent payments. The Legal Aid Society is also demanding that the NYCHA open up warming facilities and work with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development in order to accurately track heat complaints..."

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