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Renters’ rights advocates say NYC is not doing enough to help tenants
By
Charles Lane
Published Aug 11, 2023
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Richard Stephen / Shutterstock
By
Charles Lane
Published Aug 11, 2023
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Advocates for renters’ rights are accusing Mayor Eric Adams of gutting a program meant to keep people in their home, less than a month after he agreed to increase funding for legal help for renters.
The Legal Aid Society’s chief attorney, Adriene Holder, wrote in a letter to the city’s Department of Social Services that the city is “gutting” the Right To Counsel program, which matched 42,000 renters at risk of eviction with a city-funded lawyer in 2022.
Holder’s letter was sent Thursday in response to the city’s attempt to cap the funding per case at $3,063, according to her letter. She wrote that the funding is “woefully insufficient” and “will make it essentially impossible to provide meaningful brief legal assistance as required by the law.”
The 37-page letter details nine ways in which the city was already not funding the law passed in 2017 and expanded in 2021 under then-mayor Bill de Blasio. The letter further warns how crucial the Right to Counsel program is when most landlords are represented by lawyers.
“Since the end of the eviction moratorium in January 2022, there have been more than 10,000 evictions in New York City,” the letter states. “Continuing to underfund this critical program will leave even more tenants without legal representation at this critical time.”
“It’s shocking,” said Holder in an interview Friday. “It’s as if they think that housing court is a glorified bill collection agency, and that all you need are people to process cases and send people along their way.”
The Department of Social Services, which oversees Right To Counsel funding, said the city is “ensuring we have strong accountability mechanisms in place for the effective and comprehensive delivery of services for at-risk tenants.”
“As always, we appreciate any feedback from our stakeholders,” spokesperson Neha Sharma said in a statement. “We are committed to using every tool at our disposal to ensure that they are getting the full scope of critical services they need and deserve.”
“These cases can get very complicated and time consuming, and we shouldn’t be pressuring providers to cut corners,” said Council Member Shaun Abreu, a former tenants' rights lawyer whose district includes parts of the Upper West Side, Hamilton Heights and West Harlem. “Between rising evictions and staffing shortages, legal aid providers in our right to counsel program are hanging on by a thread.”
The city’s Comptroller, Brad Lander, also expressed worry over the city’s proposal.
“The Legal Aid Society’s protest letter raises serious concerns about the future of the right-to-counsel for tenants, a proven strategy for preventing evictions, at a time when rents are skyrocketing in New York City,” said Lander.
Legal Aid said that the proposed funding from the city is not enough to support current needs – nor does it account for expected changes in housing law that may make trying these cases more expensive.
Courts in New York are expected to issue new rules capping the number of cases a lawyer can take on. The city’s proposal does not account for the potential cost increases.
Legal providers had been negotiating with the city over pay rates since January. The sudden release of the lower bid requests caught many by surprise.
“I've seen a lot of RFPs and I've never seen an RFP like this,” Holder said. “It's hard for me to imagine given the leadership in this administration that this kind of a solicitation would have even been issued.”
Charles Lane
Charles is a Day-of reporter focused on breaking news and enterprise. He’s very friendly and can be reached at [email protected], or more securely on whatsapp/signal 631-295-6715
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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