NYCHA Spends $10M On Lawyers As Feds Investigate Agency: Report
A sweeping federal investigation has reportedly cose the beleaguered housing authority nearly $10 million in legal bills.
Butler v. Nassau Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation et al
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NEW YORK — An international law firm has billed the New York City Housing Authority nearly $10 million for its work related to a sweeping federal investigation of the beleaguered agency, a new report says.
Since WilmerHale was hired in the spring of 2016 amid a wide-ranging probe by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office, the firm has submitted 19 bills to NYCHA for more than $9.7 million in legal work, the New York Daily News reported Tuesday.
The top-notch firm's work likely isn't done yet. The lengthy investigation resulted in a landmark settlement between NYCHA, the city and federal prosecutors in which the beleaguered housing authority admitted to falsely telling federal authorities it had performed lead paint inspections that were not done for years. The settlement, which calls for a federal monitor for NYCHA, has yet to be approved by a judge.
NYCHA engaged WilmerHale after its own lawyers failed to block federal subpoenas for mold and lead paint inspection records, the Daily News reported. The housing authority has also reportedly used an outside law firm in a separate lawsuit over toxic mold.
In all, NYCHA had paid more than $10.9 million to outside lawyers and consultants for work related to the federal probe and the mold lawsuit as of Friday, according to the Daily News. The hefty taxpayer-funded legal tab comes on top of the more than $5.1 million in salary paid to the housing authority's 60 in-house attorneys last year, the paper reported.
Those aren't the only recent legal troubles NYCHA has faced. The Citywide Council of Presidents, a group of tenant leaders, filed a lawsuit in February accusing the agency of ignoring "appalling" conditions in public housing. Other tenants sued in April demanding a rent break after widespread heating failures left thousands of residents in the cold this past winter.
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