Hundreds of Bronx supportive housing residents could benefit from new eviction-prevention measures required under a recent CAMBA settlement.
Last month, the Legal Aid Society announced a settlement agreement which requires supporting house provider CAMBA, an acronym for the Church Avenue Merchants Block Association, to create new procedures designed to prevent the avoidable eviction of city tenants.
The Aug. 17 settlement took place nearly a year after three Brooklyn residents with mental and physical disabilities, on behalf of the Legal Aid Society, filed a federal lawsuit against CAMBA and its affiliate CHV 560 Winthrop Street LP.
CAMBA currently operates six Bronx residences — located in the Bedford Park, Crotona Park East, Highbridge and Mott Haven neighborhoods of the borough. In total, CAMBA is responsible for more than 700 supportive housing units in the Bronx.
Filed in October 2025, the lawsuit alleged the supportive housing providers’ eviction policies, as well as its proceedings brought against CAMBA residents in NYC Housing Court, had been in violation of the Fair Housing Act as well as the NYC Human Rights and the NYS Human Rights laws.
The lawsuit also focused on the alleged lack of adequate support services and financial accommodations for the disabled and formerly homeless before NYC Housing Court tenant eviction was pursued.
As a result of the settlement, CAMBA will be required to set up a protocol for financial relief options before eviction is pursued, according to the Legal Aid Society.
The housing provider will work with tenants using financial management tools such as payment plans and emergency financial grants from the city, also known as “one shot deals,” as a result of the settlement.
“This settlement doesn’t alter our service delivery model — we remain fully committed to doing our utmost to support the New Yorkers who rely on our diverse residential and community programs each year,” said CAMBA and CAMBA Housing Ventures’ chief development and communications officer Samantha Conlan.
The Bronx Grove consists of two buildings located at 261 E. 202nd and 270 E. 203rd streets and was completed in 2023. It is currently leasing 321 affordable and supportive housing units across both residences, which includes 194 units for individuals and families.
Construction on the Via Vyse residence, located at 1812 Vyse Ave., began in 2017 and officially opened for occupancy and leasing in 2019. Out of its 121 units, 61 units are set aside for individuals and families with special needs.
Highbridge Overlook and Highbridge Terrace, two residences each built in the early part of the 2010s, are situated along the corner of West 167th Street and Sedgwick Avenue and provide a total of 220 units, including 53 units set aside for individuals with special needs.
CAMBA’s southernmost Bronx residence, Austin 147 at 880 E. 147th Street, opened in 2021 provides 80 units of supportive housing for chronically homeless single adults with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI).
Out of the 80 units, 40 are reserved for special needs individuals and families.
Amenities at the various Bronx residences, development include fitness centers, community rooms, landscaped roof terraces and 24/7 security. CAMBA provides on-site case management and supportive services to individuals and families who live at each of these locations.
Dunn Development Corp developed each of CAMBA’s Bronx properties, with the exception of the two Bronx Grove residences, developed by non-profit housing developer CAMBA Housing Ventures.
“Supportive housing is supposed to be a foundation for stability — not another pathway back to homelessness,” Maddie Reichman, a staff attorney in the Legal Aid Society’s Civil Law Reform Unit, said in a statement.
Reichman, on behalf of the Legal Aid Society, also said the nonprofit law firm hopes this agreement serves as a model for supportive housing providers across the city.
“Our clients should not lose their homes because a rent arrears problem was never given a meaningful opportunity to be resolved,” Reichman said.
CAMBA, which was originally started in 1977 as a small merchant association in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, now operates more than 100 properties for more than 70,000 residents across the five boroughs each year.
“For nearly 50 years, CAMBA has been a trusted community partner and continues to connect individuals and families to resources to keep them housed — which is at the core of our daily mission,” Conlan said.
Conlan also stated CAMBA’s existing eviction-prevention protocols already strictly align with all city guidelines to support vulnerable residents.
According to nyc.gov, a landlord cannot legally evict a resident from NYC without a formal court-ordered eviction process, which means other methods such as lockouts and self-help evictions, or actions taken by a landlord to force a tenant out, are illegal.
Bronx residents with knowledge of the agreement were reluctant to provide names or provide a comment on record in regards to the settlement at this time.
