NYC Department of Social Services, New York, NY
This summer I was an intern for the NYC Department of Social Services, Office of Legal Affairs, specifically in the Source of Income Discrimination Unit (SOI). The unit is only two years old, established as part of the City’s efforts at homelessness prevention. “Lawful Source of Income”—i.e. anyone on any type of government aid—became a protected class under NYC law in 2008 and under New York State law this April. However, this law is not widely known and discrimination in the New York housing market against people with rental assistance vouchers (Section 8, City FHEPS, FHEPS, SOTA, etc.) still proliferates. The SOI unit’s mission is to combat this, and thus has a public-facing component, the hotline. Voucher-holders in New York call the unit to file complaints about landlords or real estate brokers who they think are discriminating against them. The unit might then perform a test—where an investigator calls the landlord/broker posing as a prospective tenant with income—or conducts an intervention—where an attorney explains to the broker/landlord that they are discriminating, and threatens to pursue further legal action should they continue with this type of behavior. The unit sues discriminatory landlords and brokers only when they have demonstrated a “pattern or practice of discrimination.” Before this step, they generally issue “cease and desist” letters.
This summer afforded me an incredible number of unique and rewarding experiences. As an intern in this unit, my main task was handling cases and clients. I would be given an “intake” sheet with the basic information about a case, conduct research on the building/apartment in question as well as about the landlord or broker about whom the complaint was made, and then speak with the client to gain a fuller understanding of what transpired. Based on my findings, I would either hand the case over to an investigator to conduct a test, advise the client on how best to approach the housing market as a voucher-holder (sometimes drafting emails for them, giving them advice on how to approach landlords and ask for viewings, sending them our “Renter’s Guide”), or hand the case over to the supervising attorney of the SOI unit, to do an intervention. Cases varied in complexity and length. Sometimes my investigation would be simple, and I would find the discriminatory ad the client saw immediately. Sometimes I had to look at listings on Craigslist that did not give an actual address for the property in question. Sometimes cases were matters of “pretextual discrimination” which required more subtle negotiations with landlords. This usually meant the landlord or broker listed minimum credit or income requirements which effectively, though not explicitly, barred voucher-holders from applying to the property. Most often, the complaints made were about issues of “ghosting,” where the landlord/broker would all of a sudden stop responding once the client had revealed that they were on a voucher.
Once a week, I was responsible for manning our unit’s hotline, which was probably the most challenging part of my job. I learned a surprisingly great deal about customer service; it was quite difficult to get people who were understandably frustrated and upset with the injustices they were facing to tell me their stories in a clear, linear way. I had to simultaneously collect information from each client who called, assess their situation and determine whether or not we could help them (and if not, who/what City agency I could direct them to instead), and maintain a professional, friendly, and empathetic demeanor. This task was incredibly rewarding, however, as it gave me the opportunity to talk to many New Yorkers and hear their stories.
In my quieter moments, I completed an assigned research project about the issue of “tenant blacklisting” and the laws/cases surrounding it. This required me to learn how to maneuver around the search engine LexisNexis and get accustomed to reading Court decisions. I then summarized my findings in a legal memo (which my supervisor taught me how to properly write!)
One day, to get some field work experience, I went “undercover.” I spent the day in Washington Heights, pretending to be someone with good income and credit looking for an apartment. I walked into different real estate agencies to observe what questions they asked me before I obtained a viewing of the apartment and take note of which questions would have excluded voucher-holders from getting that viewing. As the Unit prepares a case against a landlord or broker, they partner with the Fair Housing Justice Center to conduct more extensive testing and prepare evidence of discrimination. I was sent out to scout out brokerages that might be good candidates for the FHJC to test.
In addition to these tasks, I participated in the agency-wide programming for Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) interns. This included weekly “lunch and learns” where different units within the OLA gave presentations about their work. These sessions offered me the opportunity to learn about the many different ways to practice law, all within the same agency/office. I heard presentations about employment law, contract law, data privacy law, and from many more different offices. These weekly lunches also gave me the chance to get to know the other summer interns, who were all law students. They gave me a glimpse into the life of a law student and offered me valuable advice.
I also got to participate in the New York Law Department’s Trial Advocacy Program—a six-day trial litigation bootcamp for new attorneys which culminated in a mock trial. They used all of the interns at the DSS and at the NYLD as the witnesses and jurors in the mock trial. I played the role of a medical expert witness for the defense in an excessive force used by a police officer case. This was a fantastic chance for me to experience “court” and learn about courtroom litigation (which is something my unit only rarely does).
This internship was an incredible experience on many different levels: I learned so much about the NYC housing market and homelessness prevention efforts in the city, as well as practical legal skills and language/procedure, and about practicing law in a public interest field more generally. I was thrown right into the “belly of the beast” of City government and public interest law. This internship taught me how to build legal precedent for a relatively new law, how to conduct meaningful legal research, how to write a legal memo properly, customer service skills and etiquette, strategies for courtroom litigation, and much more. Besides the enriching, fascinating, and important work I did every day, this internship was invaluable in teaching me about the myriad ways to practice law. I had the opportunity to talk to many lawyers as well as law students about law school and their journeys within the legal world. I am incredibly grateful to have been given a position that taught me so much both substantively and in terms of career planning. I look forward to taking more law-related courses both during my year abroad at Oxford and when I return to Williams for senior year, and ultimately, of course, in law school. More importantly, I am excited about continuing to explore how I can use the law to make change and enforce justice in our country.
I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the ’68 Center for Career Exploration and to Ms. Dawn Dellea for managing and facilitating the ASIP program each summer. More importantly, I would like to thank the Estate of George Mead, whose generosity made this incredibly enriching and rewarding position possible.
Megamenu Social