Statement of Unionized Legal Workers in Support of the Tenants’ Movement

As legal services workers and as members of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, UAW 2325, the Legal Services Staff Association, NOLSW/UAW 2320, 1199SEIU, and the National Organization of Legal Services Workers, UAW 2320, we are witness to a historic crisis that is disproportionately affecting the most disadvantaged members of our society, many of whom are our clients. As the staff of the city’s civil legal services providers, most of us represent tenants in Housing Court through the City’s landmark Right to Counsel program. We are fighting side by side with the Right to Counsel NYC Coalition (RTC), Housing Justice for All (HJ4A), and neighborhood-based tenant rights organizations throughout New York City to ensure that our clients are not forced from their homes by this crisis. 

We call on our employers to join our unions in standing with the tenants’ movement to demand: 1) that Housing Court remain fully closed for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis, except for the handling of emergency cases that keep tenants safely in their homes; 2) that New York State cancel rent for the duration of the crisis; and 3) that Right to Counsel providers support tenants engaging in rent strikes.

These demands are necessary in light of the unprecedented health and economic crisis, which has had a disproportionate impact on our clients. Anyone can be infected by COVID-19, but, as a result of systemic racism, the health and economic impact has been far more severe for communities of color. In past economic crises, our government has bailed out banks and major corporations while allowing working-class people — especially immigrants and people of color — to bear the full brunt of the economic fallout. We must not let that happen again. New York City’s tenants, many of whom are our clients, are demanding that our government cancel rent for the duration of the pandemic. A tremendous number of tenants cannot pay rent for the foreseeable future, and many are joining together with their neighbors in a rent strike to take power back in a system that puts property interests before people. Tenants are not ready to go back to “business as usual” with the eviction process while an end to the pandemic is nowhere in sight. We call on all legal services providers to stand with us as we work to ensure that our clients’ voices are heard. 

Opposition to the Reopening of Housing Court

We call on our employers to stand in solidarity with the tenants’ movement and join us in demanding that the Housing Court maintain its policy of hearing only emergency cases (such as illegal lock-outs, post-eviction cases, or cases concerning a lack of essential services) for the duration of the pandemic. It would be in contravention of both public health and due process to begin to reopen court, whether virtually or in person, while the pandemic is still raging. We oppose any efforts by the Courts, HRA, or our legal services organizations to find cases to “move forward” during this pandemic when doing so would not be in the best interests of our clients. 

First, the proposed virtual appearance structure does not allow parties to create a record of their appearances before the Court; many attorneys do not have access to our case files; and virtual appearances inhibit our clients from meaningfully participating in their case, and will exacerbate inequality due to the digital divide. Virtual appearances are akin to a closed-door justice system that could allow judges to make decisions that potentially harm our clients without the safeguard of the watchful eyes of the public or a record that can be scrutinized and appealed. 

Second, the uncertainty of these unique times prevents us from meaningfully advising our clients about the consequences of settlements that may be proposed during virtual court conferences. We don’t know how devastating the pandemic will be, nor do we know how long the eviction moratorium will last, whether legislation will be passed that affects our clients, nor whether HRA will be able to assist our clients in complying with settlements when it is overburdened by the health and economic crisis. What we do know is that our clients do not have to worry about losing their homes as long as the eviction moratorium is in place and Housing Court is closed. We cannot ethically participate in any actions that compromise that position. 

Third, the Right to Counsel NYC Coalition has urged legal advocates to push back against any re-opening of housing courts in solidarity with tenants across the City. If the only cases being heard are those with attorneys on both sides, tenants may conclude that it is better to be pro se, undercutting the goal of Right To Counsel. Our values and missions as legal services organizations are undermined if we are complicit in assisting the Court and our adversaries with reopening courts to the detriment of tenants’ due process rights and our public health.

Support for Calls to Cancel Rent

We also express our unequivocal support for the Cancel Rent campaign, and we call on our legal services organizations to publicly support the enactment of Cancel Rent legislation at the state and federal levels. Cancel Rent legislation would forgive all rent, mortgage, and utility payments accrued during COVID-19 while providing emergency relief to small landlords facing hardship and to subsidized and not-for-profit housing. Cancel Rent legislation recognizes that it is the low- and middle-class tenants and homeowners, not big developers and banks, who need help right now. We must cancel housing payments for all New Yorkers until the pandemic and the resulting economic fallout subsides.

Some have expressed reservations that the Cancel Rent legislation will be hard to pass or that it may be challenged as unconstitutional. Without a doubt, the landlords, developers and other corporate actors will do everything in their power to ensure that they can resume business as usual without regard to whether ordinary New Yorkers continue to suffer. It is our job as tenant advocates to fight back. We must show our leaders that New York City’s tenants and homeowners are strong, and will not allow the government to let everyday people suffer — yet again — while the rich get even richer. We are confident, based on the legal research of our members and other experts, that the proposed legislation will be upheld as constitutional.  Our organizations should respond to any constitutional concerns by helping to make the legislation better and developing legal strategies to defend it, not by giving up before the fight has even begun. 

Support For Rent Strikes

We also agree with the Right to Counsel NYC Coalition that legal services organizations have a responsibility to provide legal support to tenant associations engaging in rent strikes. For more than a century, tenants have used coordinated rent strikes as an effective tactic to force landlords and government actors to provide tenants with much-needed relief. As approximately 40% of tenants are finding themselves unable to pay rent, tenants are banding together in building-wide rent strikes to defend themselves against powerful corporate landlords. In coordination with their neighbors and with the support of tenant advocates and attorneys, tenants can stand strong together. Our legal services organizations must actively support them in this fight.

Whether we provide coordinated support to rent strikes or not, the Courts are going to be flooded with tenants who can’t pay their rent, many of whom will become our clients. It is far better to undertake a proactive, coordinated effort to support building-wide rent strikes than to allow our clients to be divided by powerful corporate landlords bringing individual cases against them. As tenants embark on a rent strike on May 1st, the only question is whether our organizations, which make up the majority of legal services providers in New York City, are going to support them. As unionized legal services workers, we understand the power of collective action and demand that our organizations provide tenants the support they deserve. 

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We, the undersigned unions and legal services workers, are ready to fight alongside the tenants’ movement by opposing any efforts to reopen housing court during the pandemic, demanding the passage of Cancel Rent legislation, and providing legal support to tenants’ associations engaging in rent strikes. We call on our legal services organizations to do the same.

Signatures

Unions

Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, UAW 2325
Legal Services Staff Association, NOLSW/UAW 2320
National Organization of Legal Services Workers, UAW 2320
SEIU1199