2012 Theses Master's

Foreclosure Crisis and Its Socio-Economic Impacts on Evicted Renters, Who Have Been Helped by Legal Aids and Legal Services in New York City

Abdullah, Bhyar Omar

Thousands of New York City Renters have been foreclosed upon since the beginning of foreclosure crises in 2006. While, some of the foreclosed renters have managed to remain in their apartments after the foreclosure, some of foreclosed renters have been asked by new owners to evict their homes. A significant number of evicted renters have been helped by Legal Aid and Legal Services in NYC. This Thesis is an attempt to learn more about the Socio-Economic Impacts of foreclosure crises on Evicted Renters, who have been helped by Legal Aid and Legal Society in NYC. Has foreclosure eviction disrupted their lives? How has eviction impacted their employment? Does it increase poverty? Attorneys at NYC's Legal Aid and Services were interviewed to explain their experiences and perceptions about the socio-economic impacts of foreclosure on evicted renters. Moreover, using data from census 2000 and Furman center dataset, demographic, socio-economic, and foreclosure maps are created to find correlations among them. Regression is also run to examine some of the trends that came out of the interviews. Finally recommendations are made to help different levels of governments to craft better policies toward both preventing eviction as well as providing helps for the already evicted tenants.