A New York City nonprofit (CAMBA) that provides supportive housing to formerly homeless people has agreed to take additional steps before seeking to evict tenants who fall behind on rent. Supportive housing combines permanent housing with services intended to help residents remain stably housed. The changes are part of a settlement between the nonprofit CAMBA and the Legal Aid Society.
CAMBA operates a wide range of social-service programs across New York City. For the tenants covered by the settlement, it also serves as their housing provider, and CAMBA can pursue eviction when rent goes unpaid.
The Legal Aid Society sued CAMBA in October 2025 on behalf of three tenants with disabilities who were facing eviction proceedings. The lawsuit alleged that CAMBA failed to provide reasonable accommodations and sufficient assistance before taking tenants to Housing Court.
Under the new agreement, CAMBA must help tenants address overdue rent through steps such as financial-management assistance and applications for emergency aid. Paths such as these must be pursued before eviction becomes the next option. CAMBA told Gothamist that its existing eviction-prevention procedures already align with city requirements and that the settlement does not change its service model.
More Help Must Come Before Eviction
Image Credit: Daryan Shamkhali on Unsplash
The agreement requires CAMBA to help tenants seek available assistance for rent arrears. CAMBA also agreed not to file eviction cases against tenants who are actively cooperating with efforts to obtain financial assistance, according to Gothamist.
In fact, before seeking a marshal’s notice to carry out an eviction, CAMBA’s attorneys must confirm in writing that the tenant is not cooperating or that other options, such as payment plans and emergency-aid applications, have been exhausted.
Legal Aid attorney Maddie Reichman said the agreement could provide a model for other supportive-housing providers. “Supportive housing is supposed to be a foundation for stability,” said Reichman, as reported by Gothamist, “not another pathway back into homelessness.”
CAMBA said helping residents remain housed is already central to its work.
NYC Has Been Pushing Providers Away From Housing Court
Earlier this year, New York City issued new guidelines telling contracted providers to identify problems early and pursue reasonable alternatives to Housing Court whenever possible.
Those intervention methods include helping tenants understand rent obligations, setting up payment plans, providing budgeting assistance, applying for benefits and rental aid, and connecting residents with free legal counsel.
The issue extends well beyond CAMBA. The city has roughly 42,000 supportive-housing units. Gothamist reported in April that supportive-housing landlords had obtained 810 eviction warrants over a 17-month period, and ultimately 270 tenants were evicted.
Providers have argued that rent payments remain necessary to operate buildings and provide services, particularly since unpaid balances have grown since the pandemic. The new CAMBA agreement does not eliminate eviction for unpaid rent. Instead, it adds steps intended to ensure assistance measures have been provided and attempted first.