Tenant's Claim That HRA Didn't Provide Protective Services Dismissed

Tenant sued HRA, Adult Protective Services (APS), the Jewish Association for Services for the Aged (JASA), and related entities in an Article 78 court proceeding, claiming that they didn't provide appropriate protective services during the course of an eviction proceeding against tenant for nonpayment of rent. Tenant sought a declaration that the agencies hadn't provided proper social services, a directive to expeditiously provide appropriate protective services, and a stay of the eviction proceeding against tenant.

The court ruled against tenant. Tenant was 66 years old with a number of health issues. Tenant was referred to APS for protective services on five separate occasions in 2019 during the course of the eviction proceeding. Tenant had commenced an administrative proceeding against HRA, and a fair hearing was pending when tenant brought this lawsuit. So tenant's court action was premature because he hadn't yet exhausted his administrative remedies. Tenant also was no longer in any imminent risk of being evicted since the eviction case had already been discontinued. And tenant's claim that exhaustion of his administrative remedies would be futile was speculative. There also was no proof of a future eviction threat since HRA granted rental assistance to tenant.

Ciancimino v. New York City Human Resources Administration: Index No. 451354/2020, 2020 NY Slip Op 32822(U)(Sup. Ct. NY; 8/28/20; Edmead, J)