‘Someone To Speak For You’: Low-Income Tenants Get Lawyers For Housing Court

Jacqueline Davis walked into the Bronx’s housing court hoping to stop her landlord from evicting her from the one-bedroom apartment she has lived in for nearly 30 years.

The 74-year-old retiree says her landlord moved to kick her out after she deducted part of her rent when a pipe burst and the ceiling collapsed, damaging her kitchen.

Worried about becoming homeless, Davis unexpectedly found some good news in the crowded hallways of New York City’s busiest housing court, where more than 80,000 eviction proceedings were filed last fiscal year.