25,000-member NYC Bar calls on state to boost aid for renters

The New York City Bar has called on the state to boost rental assistance. Photo by Nelson Mejia Jr./Flickr

By David Brand

An organization representing 25,000 lawyers in New York City has called on the state to increase aid for landlords and tenants in order to resolve eviction cases during the COVID pandemic.

Most pending evictions in the state can be resolved through emergency rent relief or stronger rental subsidies, said three New York City Bar Association committee leaders in a statement Tuesday.

“At this juncture, we must use this time to address and prevent the eviction and foreclosure catastrophe looming just over the horizon,” said Housing Court Committee Chair Sarah Wagner and Civil Right to Counsel Task Force co-Chairs Alison King and Andrew Scherer.

The three attorneys specifically urged the city and state to relax requirements for one-shot deal emergency cash assistance, increase the number and value of CityFHEPS housing vouchers, and institute a right to counsel in housing courts across New York.

Those policies “will prevent countless evictions and foreclosures, relieve an overburdened Housing Court system, and provide long-term solutions to an ever-worsening housing crisis,” the committee chairs said on behalf of the bar association.

State lawmakers have suspended evictions until the beginning of March. Tenants can delay evictions until at least May by filling out a document claiming financial hardship from the pandemic.

 Landlords and their advocates have called on the state to increase support for property owners, or restart evictions as an incentive for tenants to pay up.