NYCHA Improperly Terminated Tenant's Section 8 Subsidy

NYCHA temporarily relocated tenant from a third-floor apartment to a second-floor apartment directly below while making apartment repairs. When repairs were completed two weeks later, tenant didn't move back into her apartment. She remained on the second floor and told NYCHA she wanted to stay there because it was easier for her, given her medical conditions. NYCHA then terminated tenant's Section 8 subsidy. Tenant appealed. The court ruled for tenant, finding that the penalty was too severe. There was no proof that NYCHA advised tenant she could cure her violation of her tenancy by moving back into her third-floor apartment. Tenant also lived on SSDI as her sole source of income, had received a subsidy for 15 years, had lived in the apartment for four years, and had never breached any other building rules.

Chierchia v. NYCHA: 2012 NY Slip Op 01262, 2012 WL 573106 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 2/23/12; Mazzarelli, JP, Catterson, Renwick, Abdus-Salaam, Manzanet-Daniels, JJ)