NYC Sued Over Plan to Stop Paying Landlords to Hold Apartments

New York City’s social services agency violated the law when it decided to stop paying landlords to hold apartments while the agency processes rental assistance paperwork for homeless clients, according to a class action filed Monday.

The Department of Social Services’ “arbitrary and capricious” decision, done without going through notice and comment, “will cause homeless individuals and families to spend additional months in shelter, at substantially increases costs to the City itself,” says the petition filed in the New York County Supreme Court by housing advocacy and social service organizations and three individuals residing in city-operated shelters.

Plaintiffs want the ...