City Must Notify Legal Aid of Plans to Evict Homeless

Facts: In 1979, some homeless men brought a class action lawsuit challenging the sufficiency and quality of shelters available in New York City. In 1981, the City and State of New York signed a consent decree in that case. The decree guaranteed shelter and board for single, homeless adults, including those who were mentally ill or disabled. Since 1995, a city regulation required shelter residents to comply with certain work and conduct rules. And a 2003 court decision upheld the city’s authority to evict adults from shelters if they became ineligible for assistance due to misbehavior or other conduct making them ineligible for housing and welfare assistance. Before evicting an adult from a shelter, the city must send the resident a 10-day sanction notice. The resident then has 60 days to request a hearing to challenge the notice. The Legal Aid Society sued the City and State of New York, claiming that the portion of the 1981 consent decree giving Legal Aid access to enforcement and monitoring records required the city to notify Legal Aid whenever the city sent residents a sanction notice. The court ruled for Legal Aid, but the appeals court reversed. Legal Aid then appealed to New York’s highest court.

Court: Legal Aid Society wins. The plain language of the consent decree gave Legal Aid the right to access to decree enforcement information. This included the sanction notices. Contrary to the city’s claim, the sanction notices were relevant to the city’s compliance with its obligations under the decree.

Callahan v. Carey: NYLJ, 6/5/09, 6/5/09, p. 42, col. 1 (Ct. App.; Read, PJ; Ciparick, Graffeo, Smith, Pigott, Jones, JJ)