(Washington) – Residents in public housing operated by New Mexico’s Northern Regional Housing Authority (NRHA) have described threats of eviction and other practices that appeared inconsistent with their right to housing under international law, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the housing authority. The letter contains recommendations for bringing the housing authority’s practices into compliance with international human rights standards.

“Public housing can be transformative for low-income households by offering affordable rents,” said Jackson Gandour, New York University School of Law fellow at Human Rights Watch. “But if public housing authorities arbitrarily pursue evictions, they undermine the program’s promise and place residents at risk of homelessness.”

Public housing is a federal program, overseen by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, in which housing is owned by local public housing authorities and rented to low-income tenants. In the course of ongoing research into public housing and housing conditions in New Mexico and elsewhere, Human Rights Watch reviewed over 50 electronic court records and interviewed 10 NRHA residents.

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