Free Housing Lawyers Drive Down NYC Eviction Rates, City Says

NEW YORK CITY — A new law that provides free attorneys to low-income renters is driving down eviction rates in New York City, according to city officials.

Evictions declined 14 percent in 2018 to about 18,000, Department of Social Service statistics show, and elected officials say New Yorkers have the newly enacted Right to Counsel Law to thank.

“We believe tenants shouldn’t walk into Housing Court alone when their home is at stake," Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday. "To New Yorkers facing harassment and eviction: we have your back."

Right to Counsel, which provides legal representation and advice in eviction cases, provided help to about 87,400 New Yorkers in 2018, city officials said.

Only about 23,000 were able to access to city-funded legal services in 2013, the same year nearly 29,000 New Yorkers were evicted, data shows.

Several elected officials argued the steep drop in evictions shows many previous cases may have been baseless.

“The substantial reduction in residential evictions by marshals is a testament to the critical difference that providing counsel makes in protecting tenants from evictions from their homes and neighborhoods,” said Department of Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks.

“These latest eviction numbers confirm what we already know,” added Councilman Mark Levine, who sponsored the law. "When tenants are given a fair chance to fight in housing court, they will win."

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