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From the staff of New York Legal Help and New York LawHelp, we'd like to wish you and your families a healthy, happy, and safe holiday season!Please remember that if you or a family or friend is encountering a legal issue and you reside in New York State,  LiveHelp will available for select days during the Christmas and New Years period.

The City Housing Maintenance Code and Multiple Dwelling Law requires building owners to provide heat and hot water to all tenants.Building owners are required to provide hot water 365 days per year at a constant minimum temperature of 120 degrees Fahrenheit.  Between October 1st and May 31st, a period designated as "Heat Season," building owners are also required to provide tenants with heat under the following conditions: Between the hours of 6am  and 10pm, if the outside temperature falls below 55 degrees, the inside temperature is required to be at least 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

Will you be avoiding the long lines this holiday season by shopping online?  If so, learn how to protect yourself from identity theft and other online crimes. Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America, with the average victim spending 175 hours and $1000.00 repairing the damage. Cyber criminals continue to aggressively create new ways to steal money and personal information.

While most of LawHelpNY's housing resources focus on the housing rights of humans, our non-human companions enjoy some legal protections, too!In NYC, tenants who have lived openly and notoriously with a pet may be able to defeat a no-pet clause in a lease.  Residents of NYCHA buildings can have one dog or one cat up to a certain size.  Read all about it in the City Bar's pamphlet, Companion Animals in NYC Apartments.Animals are an important source of companionship and support for lots of New Yorkers, but they play a crucial role for the elderly and disabled.  They can play a role in mana

[caption id="attachment_3755" align="alignleft" width="150"] L to R: Jose Perez, LatinoJustice; Amy Taylor, LSNYC; Monica Lyer, NYS Attorney General's Civil Rights Bureau; Amol Sinha, NY Civil Liberties Union at the 11/15 Conference in Touro Law Center.[/caption]LawHelpNY staff were present at the 11/15/13 Long Island Language Advocate Conference at Touro Law Center.  We got a chance to learn about three new programs serving immigrants in Long Island and the greater NYC area.

[caption id="attachment_3741" align="alignleft" width="150"] Credit: Reuters[/caption]Stop-and-frisk is still being debated in New York City courts.  Even though stop-and-frisk searches have reduced by 80%, there are still certain communities in NYC that continue to have frequent encounters with police.  If you are a community member or a teacher who is aware of  aggressive policing in schools or in your community, contact the Street Law Team at the National Lawyer's Guild NYC Chapter.The Street Law Team, is made up of local NYC law students, who volunteer their time to helping target

[caption id="attachment_3247" align="alignleft" width="150"] Photo: Joel Branson[/caption]If you have a flood insurance claim, you must submit a new “proof of loss”  to preserve your claim to your insurance company for what you might be still owed.  Proof of loss consists of three special forms and supporting documentation.FEMA has extended the proof of loss deadline, stating all of this proof of loss paperwork may be “received” by the insurer by April 29, 2014 if your date of loss is Oct. 29, 2012 (or by April 28, 2014 if your date of loss is Oct.

Some home owners that were affected by Superstorm Sandy didn’t have flood insurance—they may have not known they needed it because, for example, they no longer had a mortgage so they weren’t notified of the need for flood insurance.

Thanks to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), lesbian and gay married couples and families will now be able to apply for family-based petitions.  The human rights organization, Immigration Equality provides answers to some of the most  most-commonly asked questions regarding family-based immigration petitions for LGBT families.    If you don't see the answers to your questions below, make sure to check out the links below to other resources. Is it true that we can now obtain a green card?Yes.  The end of DOMA means that LGBT families will be treated the same under immigration law as d

A law taking effect on 2015 will give new work protections for domestic workers.Domestic workers are nannies, housekeepers, and elder caregivers. They clean and cook and care for children and the elderly. Many are immigrants with a limited knowledge of the laws of this country or of the state in which they work. Some are undocumented and live in fear of being deported.