NYC’s Legal Assistance Program For Tenants Is Saving Thousands From Eviction (Gothamist)
Gothamist, November 15, 2018
NYC’s Legal Assistance Program For Tenants Is Saving Thousands From Eviction
“For almost a year now, New York tenants who live in select ZIP codes have been entitled to a free lawyer if their landlord tries to evict them, thanks to a law passed by the City Council in 2017. But you might not know it from walking into the Bronx Housing Court on the date of your court appearance…..’The climate in these courtrooms has changed significantly,’ said Andrew Scherer, a lawyer who co-chairs [along with Alison King] the New York City Bar Association’s civil justice task force, which formed earlier this year to evaluate the rollout of the right-to-counsel law. ‘People are more aware of their rights, and there’s a lot more actual litigation going on.’ Still, Scherer says he’s observed some hiccups in the rollout, most noticeably in the Bronx. In that borough, lawyers contracted by the city to provide free counsel are based not out of an enclosed office, but off a counter in the third-floor lobby where they process around 50 new cases a day, a much higher load than other boroughs. The caseload and the chaotic arrangement of space make it very difficult for the service providers to have private, substantial conversations with their clients. ‘Capacity is a huge issue there,’ said Scherer. ‘These facilities were inadequate when there was half the current amount of litigation.'”
