Universal Right to Counsel for tenants effective next month

This week two Right to Counsel bills became law citywide. Local Laws 53 and 54 — strengthen existing protections and expedite universal access to legal representation for tenants facing Housing Court proceedings. Lauren Springer, a tenant leader at Catholic Migration Services, said that help from Catholic Migration Services helped her and her neighbors organize to fight against their landlord’s “predatory practices which targeted the most vulnerable.”

“Later, we joined the fight to ensure the passage of landmark legislation guaranteeing legal representation to all eligible tenants facing an eviction in housing court. That right is even more critical given our current housing crisis made worse by the COVID pandemic,” Springer said. “It is truly momentous that the Mayor has signed into law two bills that would not only make the right to counsel immediately accessible citywide, but would also fund community-based organizations to get the word out.”

Read the full story in the Queens Daily Eagle: Universal Right to Counsel for tenants effective next month