Author Archives: TheSurRealEstate

About TheSurRealEstate

The SurRealEstate team is made up of the Organizing and Policy Department of the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB). As tenant organizers and advocates, we strive to preserve affordable housing and good building conditions for low income tenants in New York City. By organizing tenants to activate their collective will and have a voice in their own homes, we work to hold landlords and banks accountable, and to ensure that they act responsibly to honor tenant rights.
by | May 2, 2013 · 3:09 pm

Survivors of Domestic Violence Evicted for Calling Police

Posted on Central Foothill Mommies. The image depicts domestic violence.

Posted on Central Foothill Mommies

When most people call 911 seeking protection from an abusive partner, they do not expect to receive an eviction notice from their landlord. Unfortunately, a “disorderly behavior” ordinance has changed that expectation. This week, Atlantic Cities wrote an article exposing this issue.

For many years, municipal laws in Pennsylvania mandated that a landlord evict tenants for calling the police three times within a four month period if the call is in regards to disorderly behavior. According to Pennsylvania municipalities, domestic violence is a form of disorderly behavior and, in turn, survivors were penalized by this law. After the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) threatened to bring a lawsuit disputing the law’s constitutionality, municipalities repealed the ”three strike” ordinance. However, another very similar law was enacted in Norristown (a city in Pennsylvania). The new law fines landlords when tenants call the police for disorderly behavior. Such laws inadvertently encourage landlords to evict tenants that are experiencing domestic violence.

Sandra Park of the ACLU blogged about the injustices behind and implications of these laws. She writes:

These laws violate tenants’ First Amendment right to petition their government, which includes the right to contact law enforcement. They also violate the federal Violence Against Women Act, which protects many domestic violence victims from eviction based on crimes committed against them, and the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, and was enacted 45 years ago this month… Such evictions are often motivated by gender stereotypes that hold victims responsible for the abuse they experience.

Not only do these ordinances perpetuate stereotypes, they also deny survivors safety. Such laws insist that domestic disputes are personal matters and, as a result, police should not intervene (even when a partner experiences physical or emotional abuse).  As survivors are painted as instigators and as law enforcement refuses to intervene, domestic violence becomes trivialized.

While certain housing protections for domestic violence survivors exist in New York City, there are many loopholes in the law. According to New Destiny Housing, a tenant residing in a rent stabilized unit cannot be evicted if they temporarily flee their apartment due to a domestic violence dispute.  Similarly, a tenant living in Section 8 and NYCHA public housing cannot solely be evicted on grounds of domestic violence. Such laws address the need to provide safety to survivors, but they do not contain a clause granting protections when the dispute disturbs other tenants. Without that clause, domestic violence survivors are still subject to eviction.  As these ordinances spread to other parts of the country, we hope that their unjust nature is exposed, dismantled, and eliminated.

This issue reminds us of a similar situation with Secure Communities.  In this controversial Immigration and Customs Enforcement program, local police information is shared with ICE, and undocumented immigrants can be deported for any contact with police. Rather than created real safety in our communities, this program discourages those experiencing domestic violence from calling the police for fear of deportation.  This program must be ended, like the laws around eviction must be changed, in order to provide real safety for our communities and a working relationship with law enforcement.

If you or someone you know is being evicted or experiencing other housing challenges as a result of domestic violence, call the New Destiny Housing Helpline at (646) 472-0262, Ext. 15.

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by | April 29, 2013 · 12:00 pm

“Don’t Forget Shelters’ Role in Homelessness Crisis”

In New York City, 50,000 people live in emergency shelters. To address this issue, each mayoral candidate has illustrated their plans to expand the affordable housing stock. However,  they have yet to divulge their plans to improve shelter policies. Hannah Biskind, a Legal Advocate at the Urban Justice Center‘s Safety Net Project, published an article Friday in City Limits deconstructing the ways in which the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) perpetuates homelessness and the need to revamp shelter practices.

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Don’t Forget Shelters’ Role in the Homelessness Crisis        by Hannah Biskind

On April 10th, former Department of Homeless Services (DHS) Commissioner Robert V. Hess published an article in City Limits calling on New York City’s next mayor to address the City’s growing homelessness crisis. In his piece, Mr. Hess touts the work of his former organization, DHS, and argues that the next mayor must utilize multiple city agencies to provide better access to shelters and an exit strategy out of the cycle of homelessness.

He asks a good question.  What is the next mayor going to do about homelessness? He asks the same question ringing in my head. As a Legal Advocate at the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Project, I work with homeless families every day and I worry about what this next mayoral election means for my clients. I have yet to hear or read anything from mayoral candidates regarding this issue, yet over 50,000 of their constituents are in emergency shelter.  And even more families who should qualify for emergency shelter are thrown back out on the streets every day by DHS.

I agree with Mr. Hess’s statement that homelessness needs to be a campaign issue.  But let’s address the ways that DHS can make the needs of homeless families a priority, as well.  Homelessness is the result of multiple failures in the system, such as the lack of affordable housing and living wage jobs.  But that does not let DHS off the hook and negate DHS’s responsibility in this current crisis.

I agree that the solution to homelessness lies in a citywide, multi-agency effort.  I agree that affordable housing and the creation of a new city housing subsidy program should be of top priority.  I agree that we need more living-wage jobs. Yet, while DHS does not control affordable housing and living-wage jobs, it does contribute to the number of street homeless families that are left out of DHS’s shelter census every night.

I work with families everyday as they apply and try to enter the emergency shelter system.  While the initial reasons my clients have nowhere to go does not directly implicate DHS, the reasons my clients must apply for shelter time and time again does.  These families seek out my help because, after providing what documentation they have of their required one- to two-year housing history, DHS has denied them emergency shelter.  While Mr. Hess is somehow able to compare the shelter system to both the Marriott and the hospital emergency room, I have sat next to my clients time and time again as DHS tells them that no, they will not get the help they need from the shelter system.  New York City’s right to shelter for its homeless population dates back to the 1980’s but homeless families must prove that they must have nowhere else to go.  I listen to DHS tell my clients over and over again that they do have somewhere to go, that they are not really homeless despite compiled evidence to the contrary.

DHS does not meet its legal and moral obligation to house every single individual and family that is truly homeless.  I have seen it with my own eyes.  And if we are going to address homelessness in New York City and do our best to transition our homeless population into stable, permanent housing, then DHS must uphold its moral and legal obligation to provide shelter to homeless families who have the legal right to emergency shelter.

Stable shelter is the first step for our already homeless New Yorkers and providing that is DHS’s responsibility.  I agree with Mr. Hess that the next mayor needs to address the issue of homelessness in New York. But in doing so, the next mayor must understand how existing DHS policies are actually contributing to our city’s crisis of homelessness.

Reforming these policies, in addition to expanding affordable housing and living wage job opportunities, is an imperative if our city is to truly deliver on its constitutional promise of shelter for all.

To read the article on City Limit’s website, click here.

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by | April 22, 2013 · 11:22 am

Reflections on Being Jewish, Tenant Organizing, and Orthodox Slumlords

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This week, UHAB organizer, Elise Goldin, published an article, ”Orthodox Slumlords and Their Tenants” in the Jewish Daily Forward. The article explores her experiences as a Jewish person who often finds herself organizing tenants living in horrible conditions against religious Jewish landlords.  Because the landlords are often the only visibly Jewish people tenants know, it is not uncommon to hear tenants express anti-Semetic statements:

Tenants complain to me that Jews don’t work on Saturdays, so it’s difficult to get in touch with their landlords. One time, when an Orthodox Jew bought a building in the Bronx, the tenants were convinced that he worked for the same company as the previous owner, also an Orthodox Jew. They had a difficult time trusting him.

These comments puts Jewish tenant organizers (and trust us- there are many) in a interesting position.  Organizers must think about how and when it is useful to address anti-Semitism while on the job. Elise reflects: 

So what’s the solution to ending this brewing anti-Semitism in New York City’s worst buildings? The obvious answer is ending bad landlord practices in Orthodox Jewish communities. But of course that’s way beyond my control. What is within my control is when or how I can “out” myself as Jewish to the tenants I work with. Often, I let tenants know as soon as possible, particularly when working in a building that has had many Jewish landlords. The tenants and I end up chatting about holidays, kashrut or other tidbits of Judaism.

To read the full article, click here.

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by | February 15, 2013 · 2:56 pm
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Mold at 1058 Southern Boulevard

Today, we have two events you should come to, and two congratulations to our allies whose hard work is paying off:

  1. JOIN US, Mothers on the Move, Take Back the Bronx, and other groups in supporting the Tenants Association of 1058 Southern Boulevard this month at 2416 National Drive in Brooklyn. The enraged tenants will deliver an eviction notice to their landlord, Miriam Shasho. After living side by side with conditions that threaten their health and safety, the tenants have had enough: they are pushing HPD to file a 7A action, which, if successful, will take the building out of the hands of the neglectful landlord.
    What: Protest against slumlord Miriam Shasho
    When: Monday, February 18th at 12:30 PM
    Where: 2416 National Drive, Brooklyn NY
  2.  As documented by the NY Times and Huffington Post, the powerful Real Estate Lobby floods Albany with obscene amounts of money. There is momentum for meaningful Campaign Finance Reform this year, and we cannot miss the opportunity.  On Monday, February 25th  join the Real Rent Reform campaign and Strong Economy for All’s Mike Kink to discuss how repealing Vacancy Destabilization, regaining Home Rule, and strengthening the rent laws in 2015 will be much easier if we can limit big money’s influence in Albany.
    What: Real Rent Reform Campaign Meeting
    When: Monday, February 25th at 6:30 PM
    Where: 113 E. 13th Street: 4/5/6/L/N/Q/R train to Union Sq.
    RSVP at rsvp@realrentreform.org | 212-979-6238 x 203
  3. ANHD’s new report evaluates Bloomberg’s New Housing Marketplace Plan, and finds that “affordability” is often a misnomer. You can read the extensive report here, or learn about it at the NYTimes or at Gothamist. Great work to our allies at ANHD!
  4. More congratulations to our allies Banana Kelly and CASA for successfully negotiating an affordable housing deal in three highly distressed buildings on College Avenue. Tenants in these properties worked long and hard to secure a landlord who would respect their wishes and give them a say in the future of their homes. They have suffered long enough!

Monday is a National Holiday, so join us in Mill Basin as we protest incompetent landlords who put Bronx tenants at risk! You have no excuse!!

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by | February 4, 2013 · 4:17 pm

Debt Threat Returns to the Bronx

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Water Damage and Mold at 1576 Taylor Avenue

In 2009, CHPC released “Debt Threat,” a report that detailed the “wildly overoptimistic expectations of income” in commercial mortgage market and the implications nationwide. Particularly, it focused on the affects in the rental housing market. At the time, many of the CMBS-secured mortgages were in default or even foreclosure. Now that the economy has begun to recover, lenders are once again working with landlords to saddle buildings with debt using the complicated CMBS model. Some people define “insane” as doing the same time over and over again and expecting different results. Over-mortgaging was devastating for tenants as well as buildings  (not  to mention the whole economy) in 2009, and we expect that it will be devastating for them once again. So, are investment bankers insane?

Over the past year, Finkelstein Timberger Real Estate and Cantor Fitzgerald Commercial Real Estate have worked together to refinance, repackage, and increase the debt burden on 34 large multifamily buildings in the Bronx. Many of these buildings are in sub-par shape (as the pictures above and below illustrate). With the recent explosion in their debt per unit, the landlord will scrimp on heat and services to pay the inflated mortgage.  Such actions will cause building conditions to worsen. Moreover, we have no reason to trust these folks at Cantor Commercial and at FTRE. Here’s some highlights of the portfolio which we have both surveyed and researched extensively.

  • Building conditions vary wildly between long term tenants and recently moved-in residents. So far, we’ve noticed a pattern: long term, low-rent tenants are denied services, while higher paying residents generally get more prompt repairs.
  • Heat is low and often turned off. We suspect that FTRE is doing the bare minimum in this department, something that is particularly dangerous for very young and very old tenants in the middle of a cold snap.
  • According to our research, the underwriting doesn’t line up. Building income and expenses are made public record at the Department of Finance in order to determine property taxes every year. Thanks to this, we know that CCRE and FTRE underwrote new mortgages for 34 buildings based on income that differs widely from public record. While FTRE reports $5M in income to the Department of Finance, but underwrote the mortgages for the buildings assuming income of nearly $10M. This assumes nearly a 100% increase in income — something that can only be done through eviction.
  • We have reason to expect that CCRE  securities are not performing well, indicating that the highly over-leveraged properties are already beginning to falter. According to this article, released in earlier January, nearly 41% of CCRE’s staff has been let go as a response to under-performance. Needless to say, this doesn’t bode well for tenants for building conditions.
  • 9 of these buildings are in what we call the “Milbank Portfolio,” buildings which Mayor Bloomberg once called the worst in New York City. These buildings deteriorated while in an over-leveraged CMBS, which was managed by Wells Fargo. The new CCRE debt far exceeds the debt level under Wells Fargo.

Starting this week, we’re going out to buildings in the portfolio to set up tenant associations with the goal of helping tenants use their collective power to prevent conditions from getting as bad as they got in the Milbank portfolio. But, conditions are already not great.

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Mold at 2264 Creston Avenue

Do you live in a building owned by Finkelstein Timberger Real Estate? Are you interested in forming a tenants’ association? If so, let us know at thesurrealestate@gmail.com. Join us in breaking the cycle of predatory equity!

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