Mapping “policy deserts” in anti-displacement protections in New York City: implications for aging-in-place

Aging-in-place research often assumes that adults enter old age as secure homeowners and have the option of mobility. Within this scope, precarious homeowners and older renters remain understudied, despite facing the greatest risk of displacement. Both groups characterize a subgroup with unique trajectories and, among all older adults, are least equipped to absorb economic uncertainty in later life. As housing costs outpace the availability of affordable housing, precarious homeowners and older renters face severe threats to stability. These threats are especially acute across gentrifying areas in high-cost cities, where housing supply is limited. In this Spotlight, we focus on policy deserts that compromise housing stability for precarious homeowners and renters, contributing to displacement threat. City and state legislation is considered alongside institutional responsiveness and enforcement efforts, developing a conceptual understanding of a Housing Displacement in a Policy Desert Framework. This paper advances knowledge about how policy inaction contributes to risk of displacement and housing precarity in older age. Specifically, we examine how predatory housing practices (i.e., deed theft, landlord harassment, unlawful evictions) harm older adults and contribute to displacement in New York City.