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Supported housing programs subsidized by the state Office of Mental Health are wonderful for both mental health consumers and the providers that serve them. However, as the cost of housing in New York City rises, providers are increasingly finding that landlords are unwilling to continue relationships with them. MFY Legal Services is advocating on behalf of supported housing tenants to continue those relationships as a “reasonable accommodation” to the mental health consumers for whom these apartments are supposed to be long-term permanent homes.

Supported housing programs exist to assist consumers in accessing private apartments in order to live on their own. An apartment is rented with the assistance of the provider and the consumer pays only 30% of his/her income toward the rent. The remainder of the rent is paid by the provider out of a subsidy from the state Office of Mental Health. The provider also offers the consumer case management and other services to ensure that the consumer successfully integrates into the surrounding community.

However, providers who put the names of their agencies on the leases rather than the names of the consumers who actually live in the apartments are increasingly having landlords refuse to renew those leases. Under New York law, a provider that rents an apartment does not have any right to have the lease renewed. In contrast, an individual tenant who rents an apartment does have the right to a renewal lease. Since landlords can increase the rent by at least 20% every time a tenant vacates an apartment, landlords have a large incentive to not renew leases whenever possible.

MFY Legal Services in conjunction with Community Access and Geel Community Services is litigating to keep three apartments that are part of a supported housing program from being taken back by their landlords. In these two cases, the mental health providers had put their agencies’ names on the leases when they originally rented the apartments. Therefore, the consumers who actually live in the apartments are facing eviction because the landlord is not required to renew the lease under New York State law.

Under federal law, however, individuals with disabilities are entitled to reasonable accommodations that are necessary to afford them an equal opportunity to use and enjoy their dwelling. Invoking this law to protect these consumers and maintain their apartments, lawsuits were filed in federal court, asking the court to order the landlords to grant leases to the consumers as a reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. The lawsuits allege that the consumers were unable to enter leases on their own at the time they moved into these apartments and therefore needed the providers to enter the leases on their behalf, but that, as a reasonable accommodation, the consumers should now become the leaseholders. The lawsuits further argue that forcing these consumers to move could cause their disabilities to seriously deteriorate.

Moving can be traumatic for anyone. For those suffering from mental disabilities, stability in one’s housing is often the most important ingredient in recovery. If we prevail in court, the consumers will each get leases, and they will also gain all of the protections of the rent stabilization laws, including the right to receive renewal leases like other rent stabilized tenants in New York City.

Mental health providers currently leasing apartments through supported housing programs are encouraged to name the consumers as tenants on the leases whenever possible. This will prevent the problem discussed in this article. By naming the consumers themselves on the leases, providers can secure the apartments indefinitely and be guaranteed that the rents will not rise more than the amount set by the Rent Guidelines Board.