NEW! Our online Housing Court Comment Form is the fastest and best way to send us a complaint or other comment about your experience in Housing Court. Click here to go to the complaint form. This is one of the best ways you can help City-Wide bring meaningful changes to Housing Court. Please take the time to fill out the complaint!

Click here to see a list of the judges who are up for reappointment. The Housing Court Advisory Council will evaluate the judges' performance and then make recommendations to Hon. Ann Pfau, the Chief Administrative Judge of the Civil Court of New York City. Judge Pfau then makes the appointments.

You also can file a complaint by printing out a complaint form, filling it out and sending it our office. lick on one of the following links to download a form that you can submit to the task force to complain about a judge or other court personnel.

Bronx Complaint Form
Brooklyn Complaint Form
Manhattan Complaint Form
Queens Complaint Form
Staten Island Complaint Form

Monitoring of the courts is essential to ensure that people who are not represented by attorneys are treated fairly.

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," 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.

The Task Force is currently working on a report analyzing the effectiveness of HP Actions for tenants. The anticipated completion date for the report is December 2001.