Many low-income and BIPOC homeowners in New York City lost income or had unexpected costs because of the pandemic. In 2022, homeowners in New York’s predominately Black neighborhoods were four times as likely to be in mortgage distress than homeowners in the city’s majority-white ZIP codes. The pandemic represents an acute new threat to homeownership in BIPOC communities that already have endured decades of predatory lending and racist practices in housing. Brooklyn A continues our commitment to protecting BIPOC homeownership through legal services as well as education about aggressive scams and deed thefts, and has helped homeowners access funding made available from the federal Homeowner Assistance Program in response to COVID-19.

The pandemic has taken an especially painful toll on lower-income communities where many people were already living paycheck to paycheck before the disruption and strain of the past few years. Many of our most vulnerable clients faced the greatest hurdles in securing their federal stimulus checks. The primary mechanism the government uses to send stimulus funding is through tax filing information—which means that New Yorkers who are low-income, homeless, lacking banking services or identification documents, or are survivors of domestic violence face steep challenges in accessing relief. Brooklyn A worked hard to assure taxpayers could access economic stimulus payments and child tax credits made available during the pandemic, and to make sure all clients can access the benefits they deserve.  

In the first two years of the pandemic, at least 26,000 businesses closed in New York City. Most were very small businesses with fewer than 10 employees, and Black-owned businesses were twice as likely to close. In addition to addressing business needs related to lease negotiations and decisions, Brooklyn A helped more than 100 businesses access pandemic-related grant assistance and use those funds to resolve rent arrears and other debts that resulted from business losses are a result of the pandemic, achieving relief of more than $4.2 M in rent arrears for New York City small businesses. 

BIPOC communities have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 illness and many New York City residents lost income from pandemic shutdowns and business closures, making rent payments a hardship for many. Brooklyn A attorneys assisted clients with rental arrears to apply for support from the pandemic Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). Since the pandemic moratorium on residential evictions expired in early 2022, the demand for our eviction prevention services is higher than ever.