Low-Income Tenants May Soon Have the Right to an Attorney in Housing Court (The Village Voice)
The Village Voice, September 26, 2016
Low-Income Tenants May Soon Have the Right to an Attorney in Housing Court
“Though the majority of City Council members support the bill, the hearing addressed the concerns regarding costs surrounding free legal services. But a report released in March 2016, commissioned by the New York City Bar Association, estimates that the city would save over $300 million after factoring in the costs of unsheltered homeless families and replacing affordable housing lost to evictions. In 2015 alone, 21,988 New York City families were evicted from their homes. The cost of providing legal services would ‘pay for itself,’ said Neil Steinkamp, one of the authors of the case study, especially when the cost of providing counsel is $2,000 to $3,000 per case compared to the collateral consequences of sheltering homeless families at over $40,000 annually per family.”
