Supportive Housing Tenants Bill of Rights

In December, 2021, SHOUT members advocated for the New York City Council to pass the first ever “Supportive Housing Tenants Bill of Rights” law in New York City.

As of May 9, 2022, every supportive housing provider in New York City is required to provide every tenant in supportive housing with a notice clearly explaining their tenancy rights, and detailing key information about their housing.

You can read the text of the law here.

If you are a tenant in supportive housing requesting the Bill of Rights, please consider sharing your experience with SHOUT!

Frequently Asked Questions:

When (and how) am I supposed to receive the Supportive Housing Tenants’ Bill of Rights?

The Supportive Housing Tenants Bill of Rights must be provided to every supportive housing tenant:

  • at time of interview for supportive housing;

  • at initial occupancy;

  • at each lease or program agreement renewal;

  • on request (to your supportive housing provider)

The notice must be provided in writing, and you and your provider must both sign the notice. If you speak or read in a language other than English, the notice should be translated into the following languages: Spanish, Chinese (including Mandarin, Cantonese and Taiwanese), Russian, Bengali, Haitian Creole, Korean, Arabic, Urdu, French, & Polish. If you have difficulty reading, the notice should be read out loud to you by your provider.

Is my provider required to follow this law?

Any provider who is in contract with a NYC agency is required to provide you with the Bill of Rights—this includes over 100 providers. A full list can be found here.

How Do I Obtain A Copy of the Supportive Housing Tenants Bill of Rights?

All tenants in supportive housing can obtain a copy of a Bill of Rights for their unit at any time, by making a request to their supportive housing provider. We strongly recommend that you make this request in writing, either in a letter, text message, or email. Below is a sample request letter that you can use to request a copy of the Bill of Rights from your supportive housing provider:

Dear {Case Manager},

I am writing to request a copy of the Supportive Housing Tenants Bill of Rights. Pursuant to the newly enacted supportive housing bill of rights law (NYC Admin Code § 21-149) this notice must be made available to me on request. Please provide a copy at your earliest convenience. If I do not receive a copy by the end of the week, I will contact the relevant agency to enforce my rights. Please reach out to me at {phone number} or {email} to set up a time to deliver the bill of rights to me.

Thank you,

{Your name}

What Do I Do If My Provider Does Not Give Me A Bill of Rights on request?

 If you have trouble obtaining a copy of the Bill of Rights by requesting it from your case manager or service provider, contact 311 to file a complaint, and also email: SHTNR@health.nyc.gov and HRASupportiveHousingRights@hra.nyc.gov.

  Please also consider filling out this short survey created by SHOUT to document your experience.

What Information is Included in the Bill of Rights?

The notice of rights contains both:

  1. information about your rights as a supportive housing tenant under New York City/New York State law, and

  2. information specific to your supportive housing unit, including contact information to obtain repairs, make complaints, or request information, information on the rent for your unit (including your/your provider’s share of rent), and other regulations impacting your unit (for example, whether the unit is rent stabilized.)

For guidance, please check out the “template” Bill of Rights, created by NYC DOHMH.

If your bill of rights includes LESS information than this template, please contact 311 and DOHMH and DSS at: SHTNR@health.nyc.gov and HRASupportiveHousingRights@hra.nyc.gov.

What Else Can I Do to Support the Successful Roll-Out of the Supportive Housing Bill of Rights?

SHOUT would love to hear from you about your experiences requesting (and hopefully, obtaining!) the Supportive Housing Tenants' Bill of Rights! Please consider filling out this short survey to report your experience or email us at contactshoutnyc@gmail.com.

SHOUT brings together members from a variety of groups, including:

We do not include providers of Supportive Housing in our meetings.