The Legal Aid Society filed this class action lawsuit on behalf of more than 16,000 formerly homeless New Yorkers living in apartments that were subsidized by the Advantage rental subsidy program. Under Advantage, the City partnered with private landlords to place homeless families and individuals into subsidized apartments for a minimum of a year. But in March 2011, the City unilaterally breached its agreements with the Advantage landlords and stopped making monthly rental payments on apartments occupied by thousands of New Yorkers after State funding for the program was withdrawn. In our suit, we argued that the City was contractually bound to continue paying Advantage tenants’ rent portions through their lease periods.

In September 2011, a trial court judge held that the City had not manifested an intent to be bound to provide Advantage benefits. Though the Appellate Division required that the City make Advantage payments pending our appeal, it affirmed the trial court’s finding in February 2012. The decision was affirmed by the Court of Appeals in June 2012.