NYC Tenants & Taxpayers Win with Passage of Right to Counsel Bill

New York City tenants and taxpayers have reason to celebrate thanks to today’s City Council passage of Right to Counsel legislation that will provide all low-income tenants access to a lawyer in housing court.

AARP applauds this first-in-the-nation legislation, which will make New York City a leader in preventing wrongful evictions– while dramatically reducing the cost to taxpayers for homeless shelters to house those wrongfully evicted.

Thanks to the new bill, all tenants with incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty level will have access to lawyers in housing court. AARP is proud to have been part of the Right to Counsel Coalition, which advocated for this reform.

“No longer will a tenant have to appear in court alone to face a landlord armed with a lawyer,” said Beth Finkel, State Director for AARP New York. “This ground-breaking legislation will finally level the playing field, helping tenants stay in their homes and saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. AARP thanks City Council Members Mark Levine and Vanessa Gibson, Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, the entire Council and Mayor de Blasio for coming together to protect New Yorkers.”

The vast majority of tenants who wind up in housing court don’t have a lawyer, while 97% of landlords are represented by counsel in eviction proceedings. Thanks to recent increases in city funding for legal assistance, the proportion of tenants represented by lawyers grew from 1 percent to 27 percent - and evictions fell by 24 percent. Right to Counsel will further reduce wrongful evictions while protecting affordable housing.

City taxpayers will save about $320 million a year, according to the Right to Counsel Coalition’s estimate that half of all evictions in New York City will be prevented with access to a lawyer.

AARP looks forward to Mayor Bill de Blasio signing this trail-blazing legislation into law, helping to keep New York City livable for residents of all ages.

Follow us on Twitter:   @AARPNY and Facebook: AARP New York