Dismantling Second-Class Justice through Transformative Reform in New York City Housing Court (forthcoming, Albany Law Review)

The New York City Housing Court was established in 1973 with foundational goals to empower tenants, improve housing conditions in New York City, promote efficiency by streamlining of legal landlord and tenant matters, and as an innovative approach to problem-solving housing matters. The Court was created under the New York City Civil Court Act §110, which provides a wide range of tools for tenants to take affirmative action and for judges to enforce good landlord behavior. Despite these goals, these courts have been a site of ‘secondclass justice’-marked by confusion, demoralization, dehumanization, violence, and criminalization since inception. Tenants have a lengthy list of rights and protections under the Civil Court Act, along with laws and statutes at the local, state, and federal level. Nonetheless, the court continues to prioritize the landlord’s fiscal interests, facilitating expeditious evictions and serving as a rent collection vehicle while routinely neglecting these rights and protections. The Court is a site of chaos, where mostly Black and Latino tenants are treated inhumanely and processed through the system. While the Civil Court Act enlarges tenants’ ability to bring affirmative actions and provides a wide range of tools for judges to enforce the law, Housing Court judges are hesitant to issue orders in favor of tenants or sanction bad behavior. The Court, instead, criminalizes the eviction process, instilling fear in litigants and creating a litigation experience that is harmful and violent, rather than compliant with the guarantees of procedural due process. This article will examine the history of the New York City Housing Court and its original goals, expose the ways in which the Housing Court operates in a manner directly antithetical to its goals, evaluate selected reforms, and present a path forward.