Part III

No roof, no rights: Housing and Human Rights in Sullivan County

This article is part of the series “No Roof, No Rights: Housing and Human Rights,” which examines the connection between housing and human rights in Sullivan County, with reporting on both how the county government and its residents are navigating these critical issues. See the sidebar right for more.”

SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — “I discovered some kind of illegal hookup in the basement of the unit related to the sewage. Because of this illegal hookup, it bust and I was living on three, four inches of feces—breathing that in every day,” said Sullivan County resident Annette Foy.

These are the circumstances under which 58-year-old Foy became homeless in 2022. 

Today, Foy is attempting to hold the landlord, Chave Wolodarsky of Superior Superb Management, accountable in court, claiming failure to provide habitable conditions and unlawful eviction. The case remains ongoing before Judge Meghan Galligan in Sullivan County Supreme Court.

Foy says her case shows the importance of supportive county services. It comes at a time when the county is debating such services, with the reestablishment of the human rights commission, with the hiring of a full-time human rights commissioner and with discussions underway about a gateway homeless shelter in place. See more reporting right.

“My name is Annette Foy. I’ve been a resident in this county for over 18 years, and I want each and every one of you guys to know that right now you’re looking at someone who’s homeless,” she said, while advocating to the county legislature to move forward on plans to establish what would be the county’s first and only gateway shelter. 

Failed oversight

Foy was renting the unit located in the Village of Monticello with approval and support from the Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8), which provides rental assistance for low-income individuals under the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). 

The unlivable conditions forced Foy out,  and the Village of Monticello condemned the building in 2022. In addition to rendering her homeless for months, it also caused her to lose her Section 8 voucher. 

The court filing by Foy’s legal representation, Hudson Valley Legal Services (HVLS), says there were three failed inspections from the Monticello housing authority. The authority administers Section 8 rental assistance vouchers, and is supposed to ensure that rentals in the Section 8 program meet a set of required livability standards to avoid situations like Foy’s.

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“On several occasions, the Defendants were made aware or should have known about the severity of the situation in the basement involving the sewage and plumbing problems, including from each of the failed inspections from July 2022 through October 2022,” states the motion by HVLS.

The landlord Wolodarsky’s representation submitted a motion to dismiss, which was denied and granted in part by the judge. The motion to dismiss argued a lack of evidence, that the statute of limitations had expired, and that no cause of action for the damages sought was stated. 

The court motion on Foy’s behalf says Wolodarsky's claim that “the village condemned the subject premises, and thus it was them who removed the Plaintiffs from the subject premises,” is “is not the full truth,” and asserts Wolodarsky “knowingly failed to execute necessary repairs to maintain the subject premises, which resulted in the damages that led to the condemnation and the Plaintiff’s [Foy’s] forcible removal.”

It goes on to state, “And so the reality is that the Defendants not only evicted the Plaintiffs, but they also disseized, ejected, and put the Plaintiffs out of the subject premises in the most devious and dangerous way possible.”

In March, both Foy and Wolodarsky’s legal representation agreed to drop parts of the case, but litigation remains ongoing. 

Human rights—and wrongs

Foy said she knew what was going on with her landlord, Wolodarsky was wrong, but getting help was complicated. Three years later, accountability is still ongoing; her case against Wolodarsky has yet to be settled. 

“He tried to bully me,” Foy said.

The court filing on Foy's behalf said Wolodarsky “sent threatening notices” to Foy about not renewing the lease.  

When she tried to seek help about the illegal hookup and the waste sewage-filled basement below her, HUD told her to work with the village herself. That was “really confusing to me,” she said, “because I felt like HUD should have said, ‘You know what, Annette, no, you know, that’s something not right, and we’re going to get on it,’ but I was directed to get in touch with the village by HUD.”  

That’s when she sought help from the Sullivan County Human Rights Commission. 

The Human Rights Commission, a board of appointed Sullivan County community members, works in partnership with a hired executive director to guide people through the process of reporting their concerns about human rights violations in the county. The commission has had a rocky recent history, collapsing in 2019 and again in 2023; the Sullivan County Legislature is re-forming it this year. 

The Human Rights Commission connected Foy to her current legal representation, Hudson Valley Legal Services, as well as facilitated her filing a formal complaint with the New York State Attorney General’s Office. 

Based on the information Foy provided, the office of New York State Attorney General Letitia James sent a letter to Wolodarsky and Superior Suburb Management Company stating Wolodarsky charged Foy an “illegal security [deposit] and office fee,” and that Wolodarsky owes Foy $4,053. 

“At the outset, I must state that I am deeply concerned that you initially offered for rental an accommodation with such serious violations of the warranty of habitability that the municipality found it necessary to condemn the property on November 18, 2022,” states the letter signed by Justin L. Haines, the assistant NYS attorney general, and dated February 16, 2023. 

The letter goes on to say, “Additionally, you failed to comply with N.Y. General Obligation Law (“GOL” 7-108), the revised New York law governing security deposits in two ways.”

The commission dissolves

The support from the Human Rights Commission proved crucial in Foy being able to make her complaints heard, and to start on the path for some redress. 

“It was just the support and encouragement of knowing that you’re doing something right,” Foy says. “They [the commission] led me in the right place—-the right places,” she adds. 

However, while Foy’s case continued through the courts, her main support—the Human Rights Commission—became defunct. 

The then-director of the commission, Adrienne Jensen, quit publicly in front of the legislature in 2023; she cited a lack of support from the county for the office, and the nine-member board was dissolved after her departure. The county’s human resources department assumed human rights responsibilities, but the robust assistance provided by the commission no longer existed.

“It was really discouraging. It was devastating, because for a moment I felt hopeless in a situation of such inhumane manner,” Foy says about the disappearance of the commission in her time of need.

Foy understood why Jensen had to resign. She said even her office was tucked away, and people would be standing in the hall waiting to see her. 

Foy, who had a direct relationship with Jensen, said, “I’m a fighter, I am. I was able to keep on pushing with the encouragement of Adrienne, even after she left.”

“It appeared to be an overwhelming situation for her [Jensen] in general, because so many people had housing issues. And it was even just devastating at the end to know that all those people needed this help,” Foy said. 

The 2022 annual human rights commission report cited housing as one of its most pressing issues. 

Foy says this is why the Human Rights Commission is so critical. 

“What I went through with that landlord and management company, what I went through is really inhumane, and I really feel it is important to shine some light on it,” she said. 

Advocating for the proposed gateway shelter at the legislature last week, Foy said, “I’m homeless… I really appreciate our opportunity to get a homeless shelter….I really think this facility will address some of the root causes, however there is one root cause that I believe needs more attention and that is dealing with slumlords. I became homeless through a slumlord situation.”

Long-term impacts

Today, Foy lives with her family but has been without a home of her own ever since. 

The loss of Foy’s housing greatly affected her health. She’s immunocompromised, and said she was breathing air rank with the smell of feces for days before she discovered where it was coming from, which caused her to wheeze, have trouble breathing, and ultimately brought on the onset of her Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). 

Also, while she was being forced out, she caught the flu and became ill for weeks. She says the landlord, Wolodarsky, also turned the heat off while she was still there.

“It was smelly for days. I thought it was coming from the backyard, then I went in the kitchen, then to the basement door, and I was like ‘wait a minute, it’s coming from the basement.’” 

But the basement door had been locked. “I also believe that person knew that they were locking that door for something that the landlord didn’t want me to see,” Foy said. 

“It’s been a long battle. I can’t wait till it’s over, because it’s been really messing with my mental health,” Foy said about becoming homeless and the ongoing associated litigation. 

Foy hopes the case will help other people in similar housing struggles. She told the River Reporter about eviction signs at a building in Monticello that she believed were not compliant with NYS eviction law. This is the type of issue, Foy said, she hopes the revived commission will be able to assist with. 

 “We’re really in a struggle out here, and it’s definitely going to take more. Let me just tell you, I love a good fight. I love a good fight, especially when it comes down to human rights and civil rights that people have died for, died for, literally gave their lives for me to be able to keep on standing,” Foy said.