Westchester, Explained 16: Inside Westchester's Office of Housing Counsel

As an extension of our weekly "This Week in Westchester - The Podcast" we welcome you to Westchester, Explained. In this special long-form series we take you deeper into the headlines, decisions and policies shaping Westchester County and their impact on your family, your neighborhood and your future. Here we slow it down, dig in and bring in the people doing the work, and we explain not just what the County is doing, but why it matters.

Because government should be clear. This is your County. 

And this is Westchester, Explained. 

In this episode, we take a closer look at one of Westchester County’s newest initiatives that has quickly become a powerful resource for residents facing housing instability.  We sit down with George Asante, Director of the Office of Housing Counsel, to discuss how the County is connecting tenants with legal assistance, advocacy services and critical resources to help prevent evictions and keep families housed. We explore the real-life challenges that can place individuals and families at risk of losing their homes, the success stories emerging from the program and the partnerships making this work possible across Westchester.

Join us as we examine how stable housing strengthens individuals, families and communities -- and why it matters to Westchester residents.

---

Do you have feedback or a suggestion for a future podcast topic? Please let us know by emailing communications@westchestercountyny.gov and include Podcast in the subject line.

For the latest news & updates visit the Westchester County Newsroom or follow us on social:  Instagram  |  Facebook  |  X (Twitter)  |  LinkedIn  |  YouTube

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Hi Westchester. I'm Westchester County Government Communications Director Katherine Chaffee. And as an extension of This Week in Westchester, the podcast, we welcome you to Westchester Explained. In this episode, we take a closer look at one of Westchester County's newest initiatives that has quickly become a powerful resource for residents facing housing instability. We sit down with George Asante, the director of the Office of Housing Council, to discuss how the county is connecting tenants with legal assistance, advocacy services, and critical resources to help prevent evictions and help keep families housed. We explore the real-life challenges that can place individuals and families at risk of losing their homes and the success stories emerging from the program and the partnerships making this work possible across the county. Join us as we examine how stable housing strengthens individuals, families, and communities, and why it matters to all Westchester residents. Because this is Westchester explained. So let's begin. So excited today to have Director of the Office of Housing Counsel, George Asante, with us today. George, this is a relatively new department. Tell us about what your department does.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

I'm so happy to be here.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

So what that means in layman's terms is that if somebody is facing eviction, they can contact your office and get a lawyer.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Yes, essentially. Okay. But our office doesn't provide direct legal representation. Correct. We connect you with providers who do provide those services in addition to advocacy services. Some folks are not in court at this point. They received a notice, they received the demand, they received a threat from a landlord or whatever it may be that doesn't require them to go to court. We can also connect them with a provider who can help them write letters and do other things to avoid having to end up in court.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

And that's the advocacy.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

Correct.

SPEAKER_00 2:25

So this office uh was established in 2024. So it's relatively new compared to other departments within the county. And at the time it was established because if there is a landlord-tenant dispute, the landlord generally has the means to have an attorney. And you found that the tenant does not.

unknown 2:45

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

Can you explain that a bit more? The situation that tenants sometimes find themselves in?

SPEAKER_01 2:50

Yes. So in uh Westchester County courts, we're averaging close to 9,000 eviction filings per year. Most of those families who end up in court don't have lawyers.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Is that a lot? Can we just pause for a second?

SPEAKER_01 3:00

That is a lot. It's a huge number. Most of the evictions are out of our city courts, Yonkers, Malvern, and Neurochell. However, there are sprinkles all throughout the county. And what this program was designed to do was provide access to all county residents, no matter where they were. Even though the volume is in the city courts, that 9,000 number was very, very alarming. And that's what led to this legislation that then eventually created this office. And, you know, most tenants aren't represented in court. And we know, we all know that outcomes are far better when folks are represented, they have advocates. It's difficult when a proceeding takes a minute to go by and someone has no idea what just happened when their case is called. It's great to have an advocate that can, you know, slow things down, explain things, raise defenses, raise rights, and lead to better outcomes and keep families housed.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

There is a misconception out there that if somebody is getting evicted, that they're at fault, right? I'm sure you hear that all the time. But that's not always the case, obviously. What are some of the reasons that people are getting evicted, wrongfully getting evicted?

SPEAKER_01 4:00

Aaron Ross Powell, so one of the things is that we've seen, and in my experience, my background is in on civil legal services. So I represented tenants in court in the past. I've managed an office of attorneys who represented folks in housing court. And we've seen numerous, numerous ways where cases are brought to court improperly, improper rent increases, evicting because there's some personal issues between a landlord and a tenant. And not to say that all landlords do this. There are great landlords in Westchester and throughout the country. But there are reasons how cases end up in court when tenants have rights and cases shouldn't end up in court. I've seen in my experience cases where a domestic violence victim is brought to court because of incidents related to the domestic violence. They shouldn't be in court.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

Right, of course.

SPEAKER_01 4:40

I've seen situations where folks with a disability are being brought to court because a landlord is unaware that this uh person is entitled to an accommodation or other services. I've had situations where folks are brought to court because of overcrowding. And what we try to do is connect folks in this in my role now to services, to legal services organizations, to advocacy organizations, just so any defense that can be raised will be. And recently the laws changed where tenants have additional protections. And with that change, everyone just needs to be well-versed and provided with access to services that can raise these defenders when appropriate.

SPEAKER_00 5:17

And you've had a tremendous success rate. Can you talk a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_01 5:20

Yes, yes. We we've done very, very well. Uh since our launch, we've accounted for 17,000 legal services hours. Um, and that's across 2,400 cases thus far. Wow. So these are cases where folks are in court, where we have a legal services organization is representing them and taking the time to review these files to provide service. A lot of these cases take so much time going to court, meeting with the client, understanding what's going on, looking at the court file. And this time is usually helpful for better outcomes. And we've seen tremendous results on the legal services side and also in the advocacy services side. We've diverted about 82 cases from court, which would have ended up in court. We've also made 600 plus referrals to legal services organizations and to the Department of Social Services. We've done so much with this program, with the two components, and they're working together to one, bring down the number of filings in court, and also when families end up in court, provide access to representation.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Why do you always want to avoid court?

SPEAKER_01 6:21

Court, it's it's it's a traumatic experience. Yep. No one wants to be brought to court under any circumstances. It's very very expensive as well. And you know, a lot of times in in my experience being in and I I've gone to the various courthouses in this role, and I've seen, you know, sort of your your business being set forth and put out in front of other people in the room. And there's you know some shame element, there's, you know, there's some some elements to it that we wouldn't want our family and our neighbors to go through. So as much as we can do to avoid folks ending up in court, that's why we leaned into the advocacy services part of it, where if there's an issue that can be resolved by a letter, by a phone call, by an by an advocate who knows the law, who knows the rules, who knows that you should respond to this lease renewal, lease renewal, you should respond to this termination notice, you should request an accommodation. Those things all help bring the number of filings down and prevent families from ending up in court.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

And how has this process or has this process even benefited landlords?

SPEAKER_01 7:19

Aaron Powell It's benefited them tremendously. Um, in the same way you you wouldn't think that it would, but it has. Because what we've done with the advocacy and the legal services component is we can connect folks to financial assistance. A lot of these cases are about money. A lot of these cases are about families losing losing income, about change in household composition where there's a dip in income as well. And connecting folks to financial services results in landlords being paid. And when landlords are paid, they can maintain properties. And we've seen a majority of the filings are, in fact, nonpayments, and families fall on hardships all the time. You know, job loss, um, health issues, they lead they lead to income instability, and that leads to housing court. And by providing folks access to financial assistance and programs where you can get assistance with your rent, whether it's a short-term subsidy, whether it's rental arrears assistance, we've connected with providers and we partner with providers who can do that.

unknown 8:14

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 8:14

It this must be, I mean, obviously this is your your job and this is something you build your career on, but how personally rewarding this must be for you as well to do this kind of work.

SPEAKER_01 8:24

Yes, I, you know, I grew up in uh in Yonkers and, you know, I've had friends who have gone through situations like this and family as well. So being able to step into a role that can have this sort of impact, uh, it's you know, there's no reward for there's there's nothing I can say about how great it fails to get a call from someone who gets a service from a provider and I got to keep my apartment. You know, I can talk about, you know, the veteran who we got a subsidy for or a provider got a subsidy for. I can talk about a domestic violence survivor who was able to get a unit transfer because an advocate pushed for it. I can talk about a family who lost a uh a family member and couldn't afford to pay the rent and we got them financial assistance. These stories are all throughout the county, and it's not what people think. It's not people choosing not to pay.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

Right.

SPEAKER_01 9:14

It's hardships, real life hardships that come up.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

Aaron Powell And and I think so is important to uh point out that all of us are are unfortunately it could happen to all of us, right? Anybody can experience a hardship and you could find yourself in a very difficult, different situation than you currently are in.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Yeah, in an instant, you know, I've one of the first cases I ever worked on was um someone who got injured on the job, a construction worker. And if you don't get if you don't work, you don't get paid. Eventually, you know, eventually got back to work. But that's the story I think about. The the folks who one instant, one incident, car accident, work, incident, whatever it is, and then you're facing eviction. But there are programs in place, and our program, Housing Council program, is playing such a crucial role connecting folks to services. And one of the things that you know comes up a lot is um I've called so many places and you know, I haven't gotten a call back. I don't know where to go. This is what I'm dealing with. And it's great to have a central hub in the county where folks can call, reach out to 211 and get connected with a provider. And that small, small aspect of this program has had huge results.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

And so how are you w what are some of the organizations? Who are some of the organizations um that you are working with to provide these services?

SPEAKER_01 10:31

So for the legal services component, we work with um Hudson Valley Justice Center, Legal Services Hudson Valley, Human Development Service, Human Development Services of Westchester, and the Law Office of Tracy Forrest. They've done great work for us in our first year. Um I mentioned the legal hours that we accounted for, 17,000. Um our advocacy providers are Human Development Services of Westchester, uh, Cluster, um, Westchester Residential Opportunities, Mount Vernon United Tenants, Community Resource Center, and CHI, Community Housing Innovations. They've done great work in sort of the realm of outreach, community education, workshops, all the things that don't require stepping into a courthouse and giving legal legal services. They've filled that gap for us. And we've had so many folks refer to financial assistants, so many folks refer to advocates, and the outcomes are counting, and they keep counting every day.

SPEAKER_00 11:25

Aaron Powell And it's only been like a little over a year.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

Yes, yes, since our launch in July, yes.

SPEAKER_00 11:30

Wow. Um so I love this. I love your department because this is everything that's good about government. Um what are some of the other county departments that you work with?

SPEAKER_01 11:40

So housing reaches across all aspects, and you know, we've worked with pretty much every single county department. We've collaborated with every single county department. And I'll name a few who we've collaborated with uh pretty frequently. You know, office for women with you know domestic violence survivors, of course, um senior programs because you know seniors face housing issues as well. Um Department of Planning, uh, they have you know housing programs as well, uh, office of assigned counsel, folks who are facing criminal proceedings also may have housing issues, or their family may have housing issues, and so so much more. All of the county departments, uh I may be forgetting a few, but we've worked closely with all of them and we've had great outcomes with you know cross-collaboration. We've all done you know outreach, we've paneled at events together, Human Rights Commission and our office have done numerous programs together, information sessions um about fair housing as it relates to eviction and housing stability. So all the county departments we work very, very closely together.

SPEAKER_00 12:40

And so let's walk through what happens. So somebody hears this podcast and they think I need some help, they call your office. What happens?

SPEAKER_01 12:49

So they can initially, or we we prefer if uh folks start with 211.

SPEAKER_00 12:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

Uh, but people do call the office. Uh they go online and they get you know my number or the office.

SPEAKER_00 13:00

So call 211, but if not, they can call your office.

SPEAKER_01 13:03

Yes, they can reach out directly to our office. And we have an online intake form where um it's uh the link is housingcouncil.westchestergov.com, and you just answer a few simple prompts, a few simple questions, and that intake is forward directly to our program, and we make referrals directly to a service provider depending on the need.

SPEAKER_00 13:23

Aaron Powell Depending on how they filled out that form.

SPEAKER_01 13:25

Correct.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

But if they call, what happens?

SPEAKER_01 13:28

When they call, they can either get access to someone from the team or myself, and we assess the situation and make sure the referral to whether it's financial assistance, legal assistance, or advocacy services, we make sure that that that referral is made.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

Aaron Powell And how quickly does all of this happen?

SPEAKER_01 13:43

Aaron Powell Depending on uh the emergency, a lot of these issues they they range. Uh someone can get a 90-day notice and they may have some time. Someone else may have been locked out. And that one we have to act quickly. There's not much time there. And we've had success in getting people restored to their homes based by making referrals to providers, by providers filing actions in court, providers connecting with landlords and providing guarantees for funds. We we've done that. So it depends on the situation, the circumstance, but we triage these intakes in a way where we prioritize the emergencies in a family homeless, a family locked out, a family without utilities, a family without heat or hot water. We address immediately and we make sure they're connected to our provider.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

Absolutely. I mean, um, you know, with something like housing for a family, for a single person, for anybody, it's it's such a basic such a basic need. And yet it's it can be taken away so quickly, it sounds like.

SPEAKER_01 14:41

Yes. One of the things I I say is that, you know, housing, everything flows from it. Um, you know, without stable housing, all else falls apart, you know, employment, education, your health. Without stable housing, people suffer. And I I think we take that for granted, those of us who don't have to worry about these sorts of things. And that's a mindset I I come to work with every day where we want to make sure that we provide stability and housing to as many people as possible through a program like this, programs like the ones we have throughout the county with all of the different departments.

SPEAKER_00 15:13

Do you want to tell us some more success stories? We'd love to hear them.

SPEAKER_01 15:16

Um, yeah, we we've had a lot. And you know, I'll speak to the most vulnerable of our neighbors. I'll speak to you know our veterans who face housing issues.

SPEAKER_00 15:24

Do you find them to be the like the number one caller, veterans?

SPEAKER_01 15:28

Um we we get a few. We get we get a good amount.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 15:33

Um we get a lot of seniors. Uh we get a lot of folks, like I said, from the Mount Vernon, uh, Yonkers, the city, uh New Rochelle areas. Um, but it's a wide range. Um but you know, the special populations, you know, the veterans, the seniors, the folks with disabilities, those ones we see pretty often because they there's some hardships that come along with uh the challenges that they have. And you know, there are numerous programs in the county that assist them. Uh we work closely with senior programs, we work c closely with the veterans department, and we try to connect folks not just with legal services and housing stability services, but everything that they may need.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

Support services.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

Yes, support services, absolutely. And it's great that, you know, the housing council is housed within the Department of Social Services because we have access to all of the various programs. Uh Adult Protective Services has been crucial in a lot of the work that we've done.

SPEAKER_00 16:21

And to Can you explain that a little bit more?

SPEAKER_01 16:23

Yes. So to speak to some of the great outcomes is you know, some individuals have challenges accessing certain services. And Adult Protective Services is able to meet folks where they are. They're able to go out into the field, go into people's homes, and connect people with supports services, anything you can think of. And one of the stories that comes to mind for me is, you know, um homebound individual who receives notices but can't respond to them and can't appear, can't go to court, can't advocate for themselves. And, you know, APS would get involved, and we can bridge that gap. We can get social workers out there, caseworkers out there, and make sure that this person gets referred to providers who can step in and advocate. And that's happened on numerous occasions as well.

SPEAKER_00 17:11

So I want to just like take it back a step. Um, why is it so important? You know, and you talked about this, everything flows from the home, but it's not just any home, it's the home people are in already. Why do you want why is the goal to keep people in their homes?

SPEAKER_01 17:27

There there's um there's stability is important, and the consequence of losing your home, it's something that is very, very difficult to come back from. You know, children suffer in school, uh, families break apart, and the community strain as well.

SPEAKER_00 17:44

Uh all over all over a home.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

Yes, all over a home. The community strain as well. Um, you know, folks end up in our shelters, and shelters are our capacity. Uh, there's a a cost burden associated with that. And all we all we strive to do is keep people housed because we know how important that is. And a home for a child, for a senior, for a parent, for anyone you can think of, it's where everything starts from, like you said, and and we we do our best to keep families housed because you know, housing it's limited and affordable housing is limited. So when we have someone in affordable, stable housing, the the goal is to keep them there for as long as they need to.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

And yeah. Now, question for you, because obviously, you know, no one can dispute the fact that keeping a child in their home, keeping a senior in their home, a veteran in their home is beneficial to them. It's beneficial to the community. How does it impact the taxpayer in a completely different municipality who, you know, is doesn't have to worry about home insecurity, doesn't have to worry about anything, these things. How does it benefit them to keep these people in their home?

SPEAKER_01 18:52

Well, we we all share the cost, and the cost is carried over. It doesn't matter really where you reside because homelessness is is a problem countywide. Uh it's going it would be a problem countywide. If you know you want to go to Yonkers to shop or have dinner, you're going to see something like this. And it's all affecting all corners of our county. So it's important for all of us to um really work towards keeping families housed and stable. And that's part of the reason and and part of the main reason why this is a countywide program, because this impacts all county residents, all neighborhoods in this county. And like we said, it takes one instance for someone to be facing housing instability, but the cost burden that carries over across all different municipalities based off of one family having to end up in the shelter system, one family have to end up on the street. And no one wants to see in the winter families on the street, and then the heat in in the summer families on the street with nowhere to go. And one one of the ways we can prevent that is housing programs like this, where folks can access at any stage of a proceeding. But we prefer folks get to us at the very earliest stage. That way we can provide them with appropriate service. But no matter what stage it is, we can connect folks with services.

SPEAKER_00 20:08

It's never hopeless.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

Never, never. And it's never too late to seek out help too.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

And again, why don't you just tell us because this is a great number, how many people have you kept in their homes in the in the year and a half or so that your office has been opened?

SPEAKER_01 20:21

Well, we've helped prevent 282 evictions in less than a year we've been uh we've been on since we've launched. And that that's a large uh a huge number. And that doesn't include the families we've connected, the services, the families who weren't in court to begin with, the families who were able to prevent a subsidy termination, get a subsidy reinstated, um, get referred to a program that could help them stay housed or get housed. So this number, uh 282, it's it's a huge number, but that doesn't speak to the total impact that the program has had.

SPEAKER_00 20:56

And that's not just 282 people. That's families, households. Yes, households, which is really remarkable. Um how can people reach you?

SPEAKER_01 21:06

Uh so they can 211. Yeah, 211.

SPEAKER_00 21:08

211 first. But if not, if they want to email you, call your office directly. What are the numbers?

SPEAKER_01 21:13

Uh so to reach me directly, uh 914-995-4814, or email GKAA at westchestercounty ny.gov. Um but 211 is the best way. The intake portal, housingcouncil.westchestergov.com is another way to go through our intake portal. But give us a call, reach out to us through 211 email, and we'll be we'll we'll definitely get back to you. And like I said, we prioritize, we screen everything. Any emergency will be addressed, we'll get you connected to services. And it doesn't matter what stage um a proceeding or an action is at, we can step in and connect someone to services and prevent household from becoming homeless or prevent the household from becoming homeless.

SPEAKER_00 21:58

Anything else you want to share with us?

SPEAKER_01 22:00

It's been um since um I started this role in January 24. Um it's been very, very impactful and rewarding, and you know, it's exciting to come to work every day to know that you know someone in crisis, someone in need can make a call and we'll pick up and we'll be able to connect them to services. And there's been so many success stories. We get emails taking us every day, and we look forward to all the work that we can do in the following year. Year one was great. I think year two will be better, and you know, our presence is being felt county wide and excited to do much, much more.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

Absolutely. You are everything good of the government. Everything right there in your department. Thank you so much for being with us today. Really appreciate it. You let us know how year two goes.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

Yes, yes. Thank you so much for being here.