Eviction & Black Mold Lawsuit

June UPDATE:
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, all of the court cases in NYC were put on hold. They are beginning to do video conferences for cases with legal representation and I just got bad news.

Before the pandemic hit, my attorney was discussing a settlement deal with my landlord, wherein they would waive the rent withheld (I withheld rent legally to try to compel them to do the repairs- there are nine open city violations in my apartment and 46 total in the building) in exchange for my giving up the apartment. (The apartment is rent- stabilized, and they offered me a preferential rent rider when I signed my lease which is approximately $700 under what they can legally charge for the unit. The tenant protection laws changed last summer and locked my rent at that preferential rate as long as I live here, so they had incentive to get me out.) 

Now that there's a pandemic and the rental market is going down in NYC, they stated in my hearing yesterday that they are no loner willing to settle. They are suing me for $17k. I have to pay another $2500 today just to keep my attorney retained. None of this takes into account that I need to move, which is, of course, going to be quite expensive and made much more difficult by the fact that I am now on the tenant blacklist (this happens in NYC as soon as your name appears on any housing court case- it does not matter if you win or settle, and you cannot get your name removed from the list even if you're not evicted). I've been saving to move, but was definitely not prepared for the pandemic flipping the case upside down and having further legal fees and being sued for a huge amount on top of it. 

I'm honestly pretty scared. I want to move and not live in a place with mold and water leaking daily (this has been happening for 9 months). I would have been out already had the pandemic not shut everything down, but I couldn't leave even if I had found a place once everything was on hold because I have to be living in the apartment to keep my case. 

I'm deeply grateful for all of the support. Thank you <3
-Lucy

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Hi everyone!

As you may know, for almost half a year now Lucy has been dealing with endless apartment issues and a really terrible landlord.

It began with a constant leak in her bathroom from the apartment above that has caused a giant mold issue in her apartment and it is causing the floor to sink in. Her landlord hasn't been helping fix these health hazards so it came to the point of her withholding rent in order to try and get the issue fixed until her living environment is safe again. The city has issued 8 violations to fix these issues and he has ignored all of them. On top of that the landlord has hired an attorney and filed to evict Lucy and has been pulling shady illegal moves to try to get her out.

Lucy needs your help! She needs enough money to move out and pay for legal costs, moving costs, deposit and first/last months rent for a new place in New York. She works from home and really needs a healthy living situation, so I'm making this gofundme in hopes to raise some money to help get her into a non-toxic place! She is seeking legal advice but it may be too late before she gets evicted. Even if she doesn't get evicted she NEEDS to move out. Her landlord has been harassing her and the mold is only getting worse.

Anything helps! Please share, thank you!!