Nassau County Department of Social Services (DSS) paid rent for a tenant housed in an illegally overcrowded Levittown home, Town of Hempstead officials said Thursday.

Neighbors of the Constable Lane home said they complained to the town after noticing at least six individuals living there. They said different people lived there from month-to-month.

Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray said housing inspectors eventually found what appeared to be a second kitchen, which is illegal in single-family dwellings, and several other violations.

Murray said DSS paid the rent for one of the six people there.

"To have a county agency actually contributing and creating an illegal housing situation really is outrageous," she said.

In March, DSS Commissioner John E. Imhof sent a letter to towns, following a News 12 Long Island report on illegal housing. That letter expressed the need to work together when illegal housing situations are discovered.

Imhof said DSS will stop paying rent for the Constable Lane tenant, but the other individuals must be handled by the courts. The landlord is scheduled for a court appearance in July.

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