Lucas A. --
From my first day in office I’ve focused intensely on the goal of
bringing more fairness for tenants in New York City’s housing court.
I am happy to say we’ve already made important progress towards
that goal--and
now we’re taking another big step forward.
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Unlike in criminal cases, there is no right to counsel in housing court.
Tenants without resources must fend for themselves. Today only about a
quarter of those facing eviction have the assistance of an attorney--as
compared to nearly 100% of landlords.
The resulting unlevel playing field has been disastrous for tenants. In
2015, 21,988 New York City families were evicted. Many thousands more
left their homes under duress mid-way through eviction proceedings.
That’s why I authored Intro 214-A, which would establish a right
to counsel for tenants in housing court.Mayor de Blasio and the City Council
have taken the critical step of increasing funding for tenant legal representation
more than tenfold--and evictions have dropped 24% as a result. But nearly
three-quarters of low-income tenants are still left to fend for themselves.
That’s why we need to declare a right to counsel.
Next week, we will reach another major milestone in our ongoing effort,
and I need your support. Please join me on
Monday, September 26th at 9:30am for a press conference on the steps of City Hall and at 10am for a hearing
at the Chambers on Intro 214-A, a local law to amend the administrative
code of the city of New York, in relation to providing legal counsel for
low-income eligible tenants who are subject to eviction, ejectment or
foreclosure proceedings. RSVP now
here.
Join the broad
coalition of leaders and organizations that has coalesced around the movement to
expand representation in housing court, as well as the 42 Council Members
sponsoring this game-changing legislation, and help us make New York City
the first jurisdiction in America to take such historic action.
To make this happen - I need to hear from you! Please RSVP
here and sign up at our
Facebook event page here.
I hope to see you there.
Best,
Mark