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Government error leads to auction of mother's unit containing son's ashes
A Brooklyn woman lost nearly everything she owned, including her stillborn son’s ashes, after a New York City administrative error led to her storage assistance being wrongly denied. The unit was auctioned her unit before she could challenge the decision. FOX 5’s Kelly Kennedy investigates how Nina Davila’s devastating loss is now driving a push for "Shavon’s Law," to protect vulnerable New Yorkers from storage unit auctions.
NEW YORK - A Brooklyn mother lost her most cherished possessions—including the ashes of her stillborn son — after an administrative error by New York City resulted in her storage assistance application being wrongly denied before her unit was auctioned off.
The backstory:
Nina Davila had kept her son Shavon's ashes in a marble urn for 27 years, taking them with her through every stage of her life. In May 2024, while experiencing housing instability, her Public Storage unit in the Bronx was auctioned off, selling nearly everything she owned. Among the lost items were childhood photos, family keepsakes, and her son's urn. While her pets' ashes were later recovered, she was told her son's ashes had been thrown away. Records show Davila requested storage assistance on May 15, 2024. Eight days later, her storage unit was auctioned. Seven days after the auction took place, HRA officially issued a denial for her application.
What they're saying:
The Department of Social Services (DSS) now admits the denial was a mistake.
"An administrative error resulted in an incorrect denial of Ms. Davila’s application for storage fee assistance," a DSS spokesperson said in a statement. "We regret this mistake and extend our deepest apologies to Ms. Davila for this error and the deeply unfortunate set of circumstances."
What's next:
Davila's experience has exposed a gap in state law, how an auction can move forward even while someone is waiting for the city to decide if it will pay the bill.
Advocates are now pushing for proposed legislation named "Shavon’s Law" to prevent similar situations. Amelia Toledo, Director of the Shelter Advocacy Project at the City Bar Justice Center, explained that the law would temporarily pause storage auctions if a storage fee assistance application is actively being processed by HRA. It would also require storage facilities to notify HRA directly when an auction is scheduled.
While Shavon's Law passed the state Senate Judiciary Committee this year, it did not pass the full legislature. Supporters plan to reintroduce the bill in January.
The Source: This article includes reporting by FOX 5 NY's Kelly Kennedy.