The JustFix.nyc Tenant App

Organization Name: JustFix.nyc

Project Title: The JustFix.nyc Tenant App

Project Location: New York City

Project Goals:
JustFix.nyc is an innovative new approach to addressing some of the most pressing issues faced by urban communities in the United States. Our digital services empower neglected tenants - many of whom are experiencing the repercussions of gentrification - to take action against landlord harassment and apartment disrepair. JustFix.nyc amplifies the diverse ecosystem of grassroots organizations, local government, and legal services by providing a unified system to collect and share information.

Project Description:
The JustFix.nyc Tenant App provides a better way to shed light on repair and harassment issues while giving tenants more leverage in the traditionality imbalanced dynamic with their landlord. Tenants use the app to document their apartment conditions, navigate complex bureaucratic systems, and build strong legal cases. Easy sharing capabilities allow users to more easily connect and collaborate with neighbors, local community groups, and legal service providers. JustFix.nyc allows for more action and coordination citywide; simultaneously providing policy and advocacy tools while also dramatically expanding the direct services available to tenants who are struggling with an inadequate housing situation.

Community Impact:
As of October 2017, over 1,200 families across NYC have used JustFix.nyc to take action on their housing situations. Over 40 community, legal, and government organizations now use JustFix.nyc as part of their tenant advocacy practice. JustFix.nyc cases have been used successfully in tenant organizing campaigns, legal service clinics, and in portfolio-wide cases targeting NYC’s worst landlords. The power of strong documentation provides tenants with crucial leverage and has assisted many users in pro se, or unrepresented, legal cases. The majority of JustFix.nyc users come from rent regulated housing, which is currently experiencing high levels of neglect and harassment as neighborhoods become redeveloped and communities are displaced.

Organization Description:
JustFix.nyc is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a mission to build technology for housing justice. Founded in 2015 as part of the Blue Ridge Labs @ Robin Hood fellowship program, the founding team of dedicated New Yorkers brings a combined skillset of technology, design, community organizing and nonprofit administration to a passion for supporting their neighbors and communities. The team has since expanded and is now focused on utilizing open data, community-led design practices, and a partnership-based model to develop groundbreaking new ways to identify patterns and provide scalable services to the hundred of thousands of tenants at-risk of displacement. JustFix.nyc was the 2015 grand prize winner of the NYC Big Apps civic technology competition and has been supported by the Robin Hood Foundation, the Open Society Foundation, and Google.org.