The New York City Public Engagement Unit is working to teach tenants their rights and what to do if they’re being violated.

The Public Engagement Unit has handed out tens of thousands of flyers, informing tenants on how to fight back against an illegal eviction. The team canvassed East New York on Tuesday, which is the neighborhood with the highest number of illegal lockout filings in all of Brooklyn.

Evictions are a court-ordered process that involve a judge signing a court order. That court order is then enforced by a marshal or sheriff – an eviction doesn’t just come in a letter, notice, or even worse, a locked door.

“Something like that just happened to me, I was just exiting my apartment,” said one East New York resident. “My husband died and he didn’t have time to put me on the lease.”

Volunteers and city employees with the city’s Public Engagement Unit say that if any of those illegal eviction processes happen to you to call 311 and a tenant specialist to figure out your next steps.