Borough Assistants -
   Bronx: Fatoma Djabakatié
   Brooklyn: Kayla Schwarz
  Brooklyn/Red Hook: Joe Catron
   Manhattan/Harlem: Brendan Enright
   Queens: Bethany Hartzell
   Manhattan: Susan Slocum

Hotline Specialists —
  Emilia Santana
   Josiris Ureña

Board of Directors Executive Committee

President — Larry Wood,
Goddard-Riverside Family Council

Vice-President — Judith Goldiner,
Legal Aid Society - Civil Appeals

Treasurer — Michael Williams,
The Door

Secretary — Adriene Holder,
Legal Aid Society - Civil Appeals

Board of Directors, General Members
Marianne Brennick, Community Health Action of S.I.
Megan Fogarty, Citizens Advice Bureau
Cathy Grad, Grad & Weinraub
Rosa Maria de la Tore, Chelsea Housing Group
Ted Finkelstein, NYC Commission on Human Rights
Anderson Fils-Aimé, Tenants & Neighbors
Jennifer Levy, South Brooklyn Legal Services
Richard Munroe, Seaman's Society for Children and Families
Justin Haines, The Legal Aid Society
Marilyn Sotomayor, Queens Community House

HISTORY

The City-Wide Task Force on Housing Court, Inc. is a non-profit coalition that was established in 1981 to address the systemic challenges to justice in New York City's Housing Court. The organization has historically focused on the obstacles faced by people who cannot afford representation by an attorney.

Although its beginnings were at the grassroots level in each borough, the Task Force has grown into a citywide network with affiliations throughout the state and nation.

Today the staff collaborates with community groups, legal services providers, eviction prevention specialists, academicians, and elected officials to further the goal of justice in Housing Court as a means of abating homelessness in New York City.

INFORMATION TABLES

The most visible impact of the task force has been our constant presence in each borough Housing Court and the assistance that we provide to more than 60,000 people each year at our information tables. The staff and volunteers at the table answer questions and provide referrals to legal service providers and other eviction prevention organizations, resources, and agencies.

Plain language materials in English and Spanish are available to provide New Yorkers with the information they need to understand their rights in landlord/tenant matters.

PUBLIC ACCESS PROGRAM

The Task Force is a 2005 recipient of a Community Media Grant from Manhattan Neighborhood Network. Eight informational videos on Housing Court will be produced with this grant support.

TELEPHONE ASSISTANCE HOTLINE

The Task Force operates a telephone assistance hotline from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.. Monday to Friday. During the hotline hours, the staff and volunteers provide information regarding enforcement of housing code violations and other landlord/tenant issues to New York City residents, community based organizations, and other service providers.

MONITORING AND REPORTING

Five Minute Justice: In 1986, the Task Force issued the first comprehensive study of the N.Y.C. Housing Court entitled, "Five Minute Justice." The study found that tenants are more often in court without attorneys than owners are, that almost 50% of the pre-trial hearings were completed in only five minutes, and that approximately 80% of pre-trial hearings and half of all trials lasted less than 15 minutes.

The Donaldson Report: In 1993, the Task Force issued a report entitled, "Housing Court, Evictions and Homelessness: The Costs and Benefits of Establishing the Right to Counsel," referred to as the "Donaldson Report."

Click here to download the report as a .pdf document.

which found that:

• Only 11.9 percent of tenants were able to afford counsel, although.
• 97.6 percent of landlords were represented by attorneys.
• 60% of tenants were financially eligible for free legal representation and that providing counsel could save approximately $67 million spent in homelessness services.

Both studies are often cited in the media, and are used by several institutions for planning and development. In addition, the Task Force is constantly called upon to assist others in their research on Housing Court.

ORIENTATION WORKSHOPS

Over the past few years, Task Force staff and volunteers have conducted tenant workshops in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. The program includes an overview of Housing Court and instructions on how to prepare for a Housing Court proceeding. Since 1993, this program has enhanced our services by more than 3,500 tenants. The staff have also conducted similar trainings for unions, building tenant associations and community organizations.

REFORM ADVOCACY

The Task Force has continued to work toward justice in the court and to make efforts to reestablish the focus on the Housing Court's statutory mandate - the enforcement of housing and safety codes. We continue to support:

• The Right-To-Counsel for all indigent litigants in Housing Court
• The use of plain-language forms and multi-language court information and legal forms
• A prerequisite that owners correct housing and safety code violations prior to filing non-payment claims
• Reform of statutory and administrative barriers to equal protection and due process in housing matters
• Maintenance and development of affordable and habitable housing, and
• Improvements in the Housing Court's handling of unrepresented litigants.