On December 23, 2021, Metro IAF affiliates Manhattan Together (MT) and South Bronx Churches (SBC) reached an agreement with the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) to extend robust legal protections against mold, leaks and other excess moisture to tenants in buildings that are part of NYCHA’s Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) program.  Roughly 62,000 units will be converted to private management through PACT, a federal Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program.

These protections are part of the consent decree reached in the Metro IAF federal lawsuit, Baez v. NYCHA. The agreement includes:

• NYCHA requirement that managers address all open mold and excessive moisture repair requests within 60 days after they officially enter RAD/PACT.  Following this period, private managers must clean up all mold and excessive moisture complaints within 30 days.
• Building managers must submit monthly reports identifying all unresolved mold complaints -- and a plan to resolve them -- to NYCHA, an independent data analyst and a special master who are already part of the court agreement. If the plan is inadequate, the Special Master can order stronger action.
• RAD/PACT tenants will regain their ability to register mold complaints with the independent mold and leak Ombudsman hired under the consent decree. This Ombudsman’s office has already compelled NYCHA to make almost 7,000 repairs. They will investigate every mold case in a RAD/PACT building that hasn’t been resolved by the required 30-day deadline.

This victory came from the hard work by leaders from MT, SBC and East Brooklyn Congregations, as well as the pro-bono legal team from Proskauer Rose, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the National Center for Law and Economic Justice.

Metro IAF’s clergy, tenant and community leaders are working to ensure that tenants in RAD/PACT buildings exercise their rights and will work with NYCHA and developers to ensure the agreement will be executed.

[In photo: Bernard Smith, Rev. Bertram Bennett and Rep. Ritchie Torres speak at Metro IAF rally.]

NYCHA Reaches Deal to Monitor Mold Mess at Privately Run Buildings, The City

NYCHA Agrees to Extend Mold, Leak Protections to Privately Managed Buildings, Pix11

In response to an extensive organizing campaign by VOICE Arlington, including testimony by 30 Serrano Apartment tenants and VOICE leaders at a December meeting, Arlington County officials are overhauling its oversight of affordable housing and building owner accountability.  

County changes now include:

1) Increased inspections, starting with 1,200 units in six aging, multifamily properties subsidized by the county. 

2) Changes to the County's Affordable Housing Investment Fund process that require companies seeking county financing to identify building needs and provide a plan for repairs. 

3) Examination of how the County can better support tenants in affordable-housing units.  This followed testimony by tenant leaders about years of problems with insects, mold, leaks and crime. 

Together, these changes represent a “major body of work” for the County in 2022, according to Vice-Chair Katie Cristol.

In top photo, Rev. Ashley Goff of Arlington Presbyterian Church at GilliamPlace testifies at the Arlington County Board Meeting [Credit: Arlington County video].  Right photos feature dirty, moldy plumbing in Serrano Apartments [Credit: Elder Julio Basurto via ARL Now].

Arlington County Board Meeting, December 14, 2021 [video, start at 2:33:00]

A Flurry of Activity at the Serrano Apartments After Residents Decry Conditions, ARL Now [pdf]