Pro Bono News

New York is betting $155 million that it can cut evictions

Monday, October 02, 2017

New York is betting $155 million that it can cut evictions

"At New York City's housing court in downtown Brooklyn, where judges preside over landlord-tenant disputes, about 30 people stand in line, waiting to speak to a clerk. They’re representing themselves in court.

“This is the kind of bottleneck entry point to housing court,” said Sergio Jimenez, an attorney at the nonprofit Brooklyn Defender Services.

“All of the landlords have attorneys,” he said, flipping through a list of the day’s cases, counting. “Landlord's attorney, landlord's attorney, landlord's attorney, one tenant attorney…”

Ninety-nine percent of landlords in New York City eviction cases have lawyers. Just 27 percent of tenants do..."

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