What can a person do when facing eviction by the NYC Housing Authority because they are not on the lease?

Question

This is the situation: Last year my uncle and his two children (one a college student, the other a 15 year old) moved in with my grandmother because she became ill. He did not notify Housing that he would be staying there. My grandma's health deteriorated over the year and sadly she recently passed. Now Housing wants the apartment vacated in two weeks, but my uncle and his kids have no where to go. What are their options? They have not notified Housing that they are actually living in the apartment for fear that they may implicate themselves even further.

Answer 1

If it is government subsidized housing,then they have to leave. That apartment is needed for a person waiting for housing assistance. He is not on the lease,so he has no legal right to be there. Housing is saying that they want the apartment empty for the next person,if they were aware that your Uncle and his family were living there,they may be charged with fraud since technically if they were living there,their incomes should have been reported to housing as it may have made a huge difference in the amount of rent that was being paid. Better just to pack up and leave instead of getting themselves in a whole lot of problems.

Answer 2

This sounds like a situation where you need to consult an attorney quickly. Many of those leases are rent controlled for the lifetime of the leassee. I don't know much more about them than that. This never comes up in KS.

Answer 3

Option 1: leave

Option 2: get kicked out

Answer 4

Seek legal advice.
IIRC, New York law does offer some form
of 'squatters rights` protection, but it's complicated.
You can probably at least buy them some time to
relocate.

Answer 5

they have no options other than to leave- sorry