For over 50 years, the Met Council on Housing has been at the forefront of the housing justice movement. We fight for the rights of New York City tenants because we believe that every New Yorker deserves safe, decent, affordable housing. We work with elected officials, community groups and legal service providers in New York City and surrounding areas to hold developers and landlords accountable and to create more equitable housing policies.

Additionally, we assist, mobilize and educate tenants through our Tenant Help Hotline, our Walk-In Clinic and our community organizing. Landlords use misinformation as a weapon to harass tenants and further destabilize communities. On the hotline and in our clinic we are able to fight back by dispelling landlord lies and instructing tenants on how to safeguard their rights. The issues that tenants reach out to us about are not happening in isolation, they are symptoms of a broken and unjust housing system. Our strength lies in connecting tenants to the housing movement and building our collective power.

Hotline: Volunteers answer calls during our hotline hours giving individualized information on landlord/tenant problems or questions.  Legal advice is not given, just lay information.  We try to be supportive and bolster the caller’s ability to understand and enforce their rights.  Callers are also asked to become involved in the greater fight for tenant’s rights.  
 

Qualifications: Volunteers should be excited to learn more about tenants’ rights, curious, and willing to learn. Volunteers should be comfortable talking on the phone and have basic computer skills.  We provide training materials. We encourage Spanish speakers to join us but not a requirement.
 

Commitment needed: We ask that hotline volunteers commit to a regular weekly or biweekly slot during hotline hours of at least 2 hours. The hotline operates Mondays, Wednesdays 1:30 to 8:00 p.m, and Friday 1:30-5:00 p.m.

Clinic: Volunteers facilitate a roundtable tenant’s rights clinic. Volunteers answer questions and look over documents to giving individualized information on landlord/tenant problems or questions. The facilitator explain leases, rent histories, and other housing documents, Legal advice is not given, just lay information. This is done in a round table discussion to help tenant’s learn more about the wider tenant movement.
 

Qualifications: Volunteers need to be bilingual, particularly in Spanish. Volunteers also need to have knowledge of tenant/landlord law, and be able to understand basic legal documents. Though you do not need to be a lawyer or paralegal. We will provide training on facilitation.
 

Commitment needed: We ask that clinical volunteers commit to one Tuesday every other month.The clinic runs Tuesdays from 6:30-8:30 p.m.