The Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit launces a live-operator tenant helpline. Image Credit: Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit.
The live helpline replaces the former helpline where tenants left messages and received callbacks. On July 17, 2023, the Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit (PEU) launched a live operator Tenant Helpline to better assist tenants experiencing housing crises. The new live call system will be a critical resource for New Yorkers facing eviction, harassment, or unacceptable living conditions and represents PEU’s ongoing commitment to maintaining and improving tenant support structures established during the pandemic.
The Tenant Helpline was established in 2020 to inform tenants of their rights and connect them to housing resources, including free legal services. Since the Tenant Helpline’s inception, PEU has responded to more than 100,000 calls in which it has advised tenants on issues with rent payments, leases, evictions, harassment, and lockouts.
Until now, tenants who called the Helpline were referred to a voicemail and received a call back within 48 to 72 hours from PEU’s Tenant Support Specialists. However, with the new live answering capabilities and dedicated Helpline staff, PEU will achieve significantly faster response times, increase call capacity and staff efficiency, and improve its customer experience.
Additionally, since tenants who call the Helpline often face a variety of interrelated challenges, the Helpline has expanded to provide callers with more holistic assistance by connecting them with additional city programs such as SNAP, Cash Assistance, Homebase, and One-Shot Deals, and assisting them with applying for State programs such as rent relief and unemployment insurance.
Mayor Eric Adams stated, “This Helpline will ensure that New York City tenants have the resources they need in the most critical moments, and will no longer have to wait 48 to 72 hours for a call back for tenant help or talk to an answering machine.”
NY State Senator Julia Salazar stated, “Tenants around New York City are in dire need of increased support to help address their urgent housing-related crises. The launch of the Public Engagement Office’s live Tenant Helpline will provide tenants with much-needed, immediate assistance for a variety of issues ranging from landlord harassment to help obtaining repairs. Oftentimes, the concerns that tenants call 311 with are serious and necessitate speaking with someone live rather than waiting for a callback.”
PEU Tenant Helpline Specialist Deborah Alves stated, “I received one call where someone had been trying many different helplines, and this was the first time she was able to connect with a real person. She was emotional hearing my voice. What we are doing at PEU is phenomenal and groundbreaking.”
By: Dylan Shusterman (Dylan is the CityLaw intern and a New York Law School student, Class of 2025.)
Source: Public Engagement Unit Announces Live Tenant Helpline to Keep New Yorkers in their Homes, July 17, 2023.