Testimony Before the NYC Office of Civil Justice

SUMMARY

The Civil Right to Counsel Task Force and City Bar President Muhammad U. Faridi presented testimony before the New York City’s Office of Civil Justice highlighting the successes and challenges of New York City’s Right to Counsel legislation which guarantees legal representation for low-income tenants facing eviction. They praised the city’s efforts in passing the law, noting its positive impact on reducing evictions and preserving housing stability, particularly in the wake of the pandemic. However, they also emphasized that the program is struggling with administrative inefficiencies, delays, and an attorney shortage, leaving many tenants without representation. To address these issues, they recommended support for the passage of a statewide Right to Counsel bill that would expand the program to all of New York State, streamlining processes within the City’s Human Resources Administration to expedite housing subsidies and preventing unnecessary delays in eviction prevention. They also called for a more streamlined distribution of cases to legal service providers and for development of a comprehensive plan to ensure all eligible tenants can secure counsel which would include adequate funding to hire and retain qualified attorneys and support staff.

REPORT

TESTIMONY OF THE NEW YORK CITY BAR ASSOCIATION BEFORE THE NEW YORK CITY OFFICE OF CIVIL JUSTICE

JANUARY 29, 2025

MUHAMMAD FARIDI, CITY BAR PRESIDENT AND ALISON KING, ANDREW SCHERER AND SARA WAGNER, TASK FORCE ON THE CIVIL RIGHT TO COUNSEL CO-CHAIRS

This testimony is presented on behalf of the New York City Bar Association’s (the “City Bar”) Civil Right to Counsel Task Force (the “Task Force”).  The Task Force was formed in the spring of 2018 to advocate for the most effective implementation of New York City’s 2017 legislation providing for a right to counsel in eviction cases (RTC), to support the expansion of that right to other jurisdictions, and to advocate for the extension of the right to counsel in other civil matters where fundamental human needs are at stake. The Task Force Co-Chairs are Alison King, Pro Bono Counsel at Kirkland and Ellis, New York Law School Professor Andrew Scherer, and Sara Wagner, Associate Director of Teamsters Local 237 Legal Services Plan. Membership includes past Presidents of the City Bar as well as the current President, Muhammad Faridi, who sits ex-officio, prominent members of the bar, judiciary and legal academia, leading housing rights advocates and liaisons to relevant City Bar committees.  By design, the Task Force does not include representatives of organizations with an immediate stake in the right to counsel program.

New York City’s passage of legislation guaranteeing a right to counsel for low-income tenants facing eviction proceedings was a monumental step toward equal justice, one that was decades in the making. For the first time anywhere in the United States, tenants facing legal proceedings that could lead to loss of their homes, displacement from their communities and the threat of homelessness were guaranteed representation by an attorney. Since New York City passed this landmark legislation, twenty additional localities have adopted their own right to counsel laws, as have five states.

The right to counsel for tenants in New York City has been an enormous success.   Evictions and eviction filings have been significantly reduced.  Over 83% of represented tenants have been able to remain in their homes.  RTC is leveling the playing field in Housing Court, giving people a fighting chance to assert their legal rights, and sending a message that New York City’s low-income tenants are entitled to be treated with dignity and respect.  RTC preserves affordable housing, stabilizes low-income communities, stems displacement, promotes family stability, and reduces the incidence of homelessness among low-income New Yorkers together with concomitant human and governmental costs.  And RTC is transforming the culture in Housing Court, to a more balanced forum with greater civility and deeper attention to legal rights and principles. During the pandemic, RTC saved lives as well as homes, as attorneys funded by the City assured that tenants were able to avail themselves of pandemic-related protections against eviction as well as pre-existing rights. New York City is to be applauded for leading the nation in adopting this measure, for moving forward with the massive undertaking of its implementation, and for engaging in ongoing dialogue with key stakeholders to further ensure its success.

The Task Force’s goal is to be a supportive and positive voice for implementation of RTC in a manner that is the most responsive to the needs of the community, with the bedrock understanding that no one should be evicted or face an eviction proceeding without counsel. To that end, the Task Force meets regularly with key stakeholders to monitor the City’s implementation of RTC.  We have met with tenant leaders, legal services providers, Housing Court Judges, HRA Office of Civil Justice leadership and, late last Spring, with Chief Judge Rowan Wilson.

All stakeholders agree about two things: 1) that RTC is the right thing to do to protect tenants’ rights, prevent eviction and homelessness and secure equal justice; and 2) that the promise of RTC is far from being fully realized. Despite stakeholders’ efforts to right the ship after the tidal wave of post-pandemic eviction proceedings, New York City’s RTC program is still struggling. Simply put, the program is not being effectively or efficiently administered and there are not enough attorneys available to meet the need, with the result that thousands of tenants are going unrepresented. This crisis is not simply an issue of access to justice: given the vastly disproportionate rate of eviction proceedings brought against people of color, it is an issue of racial justice as well.

Based on our discussions with stakeholders, the Task Force urges HRA’s Office of Civil Justice (OCJ), which is tasked with RTC implementation, to take these immediate steps.

First:  The City should support, and urge the New York State Legislature to pass and the Governor to sign, the state-wide Right to Counsel bill (S06678A/A07570A) this session.^[1] In addition to providing RTC to tenants in all parts of the state, this legislation would improve upon the NYC law in key respects and would greatly assist OCJ with effective implementation of the NYC program and averting evictions. The proposed legislation would:

• • cover any case that could result in tenants losing their homes, no matter the legal forum. Administrative hearings, appeals, affirmative litigation, would all be covered, and more
  • require courts, judges and landlords to ensure that tenants know about their right to counsel and how to use it, and
  • require courts to adjourn cases until tenants have had time to retain and consult with their RTC attorney.

Second: OCJ should work with other departments in the City’s Human Resources Administration to streamline and revise procedures that affect implementation of RTC.

• • Stakeholders report that there are substantial and intolerable delays in processing one-shot deals and housing subsidies. These are necessary government benefits to avoid eviction and should be provided at the earliest possible stage when eviction is threatened.  A system should be put in place to make these benefits available before eviction petitions are filed.  The current approach wastes court time and attorneys’ time.  An efficient system would reduce court filings and enable legal services providers to use their resources to provide eviction-prevention legal representation rather than spend their time chasing after government benefits.
  • The system for distribution of cases of RTC-eligible tenants to legal services providers is, by all accounts, chaotic and confusing for tenants, providers and the court. OCJ should work with tenant leaders, providers and the courts to devise a better approach.

Third: OCJ should work, in consultation with all stakeholders, to develop a full-implementation plan to assure that all tenants who are entitled to representation under the RTC law are able to secure counsel as soon as possible. This plan should include concrete steps with a specific timetable to grow the program by providing sufficient funding to hire and retain enough attorneys and support staff to provide the highest quality legal representation to meet the needs of eligible clients.  Funding must be sufficient to ensure that caseloads are manageable and employee compensation is at a level that will support recruitment and retention of qualified candidates. The city should support and fund pipeline efforts of the providers, local law schools and others to prepare, recruit and retain attorneys and other eviction-prevention staff.

One final comment. As we have noted in prior testimony, the Task Force has long supported the term “right to counsel” to describe the RTC program.  We greatly appreciate that OCJ has adopted this term and shifted away from the confusing and opaque phrase “universal access.”  This gesture is important: tenants and their allies fought hard to win the right to counsel, and RTC has inspired a movement to replicate this right in jurisdictions across the country.  It’s time to make the right to counsel a reality.

Thank you for your time and consideration, and please do not hesitate to call upon the Task Force if we can be helpful in any way.  We look forward to continuing these important discussions.

New York City Bar Association
Muhammad Faridi, President

Task Force on the Civil Right to Counsel
Alison King, Andrew Scherer and Sara Wagner, Co-Chairs

January 2025