They spoke out, and their voices were heard.
The Ridgewood residents who rallied outside of their apartment building earlier this year claiming the new owners were abusing Section 8 regulations to force them out of their rent-regulated apartments have come to an agreement with the landlord and the NYC Department of Housing and Development (HPD).
Residents at 1708 Summerfield St., also known as 1071 Cypress Ave., claimed that the new owners of the building, Silvershore Properties, were allowing their apartments to fall into disrepair, which would remove them from the Section 8 program. The program helps low-income tenants by paying a portion of the rent to the landlord.
A spokesperson for Silvershore Properties said that the owners were not provided with Section 8 voucher numbers for tenants when they purchased the property from an absentee landlord in November 2015. Also, Silvershore was not added to the NYCHA Section 8 Extranet until March of 2016, meaning Silvershore was not notified of any Section 8 inspections, according to the spokesperson.
“Silvershore has never commenced any action to evict any of the Section 8 tenants for non-payment and the accusations are completely false,” the spokesperson said. “Since being notified, six apartments of the eight that failed inspection have been completed and reinstated. Silvershore has been compliant with all issues since being notified and is working directly with the Section 8 tenants’ attorneys to complete any outstanding issues that were a result of the previous landlords’ neglect.”
According to HPD, no apartments in the building were suspended from the Section 8 program due to violations. HPD said there was a payment issue when the property switched owners in 2015 and they wanted to be sure they were paying the correct landlord.
Court documents from April 22, 2016, provided by HPD, show that the tenants of the 39-unit apartment building reached an agreement with Silvershore Properties and HPD that says the landlord will fix the conditions the residents listed as problems and the violations on record as of April 22. Furthermore, tenants will provide additional conditions they want met and Silvershore will fix those problems required to be repaired by law.
The corrections must be done before June 21. If Silvershore fails to complete the work by the given date, the tenants may, with 10-day notice, restore the case to the court calendar and seek contempt/penalty.
