Simone, Taylor, Glick, Seawright, Gallagher, Shimsky, De Los Santos, Levenberg, Hevesi, Shrestha,
Zaccaro, Davila, Forrest, Epstein, Gonzalez-Rojas, Ardila, Mamdani
MLTSPNSR
Simon
Amd 745, RPAP L
Provides that in any jurisdiction in which a party is eligible under local law for free legal counsel, if such party has in good faith attempted to secure such counsel and is unable to obtain counsel through no fault of their own, the court shall adjourn the trial of the issue for consecutive periods of not less than fourteen days each until the party is able to secure counsel.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4993
SPONSOR: Rosenthal L TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the real property actions and proceedings law, in
relation to adjournments relating to right to counsel
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To ensure parties to an eviction proceeding have an adequate opportunity
to secure counsel when access to counsel is guaranteed under local law.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 provides a right to consecutive adjournments of not less than
fourteen days each when an unrepresented party to an eviction proceeding
is eligible under local law for free legal counsel and has attempted in
good faith to secure that counsel but has been unable to obtain counsel
through no fault of their own. The adjournments continue until the party
is able to secure counsel.
Section 2 ensures that the adjournments provided by section one of the
bill do not count against an unrepresented party for the purposes of
RPAPL § 745(2)(a).
Section 3 establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Under local law, tenants in New York City earning less than 200 percent
of the federal poverty level are entitled to free legal representation
in an eviction proceeding. N.Y.C. Ad. Code Title 26 Chapter 13. Despite
this guarantee, less than ten percent of tenants in housing court had a
lawyer in September and October of 2022. Evictions are being filed and
calendared at a much faster rate than legal services providers can
handle. Landlords filed about 2,100 new evictions each week between
April and October 2022, the highest rate since the start of the COVID-19
pandemic. The shortage of legal counsel disproportionately affects
communities of color, where 82 percent of evictions are filed.
This bill will ensure that when local governments provide a right to
counsel, it is not an empty process. It will require courts to honor the
right to counsel by adjourning eviction proceedings until any party
entitled to counsel has an opportunity obtain that counsel
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to actions and
proceedings pending on and after such date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4993
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 27, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the real property actions and proceedings law, in
relation to adjournments relating to right to counsel
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 745 of the real property actions
2 and proceedings law, as amended by section 17 of part M of chapter 36 of
3 the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
4 1. (a) Where triable issues of fact are raised, they shall be tried by
5 the court unless, at the time the petition is noticed to be heard, a
6 party demands a trial by jury, in which case trial shall be by jury. At
7 the time when issue is joined the court, at the request of either party
8 shall adjourn the trial of the issue, not less than fourteen days,
9 except by consent of all parties. A party's second or subsequent request
10 for adjournment, except as provided by paragraph (b) of this subdivi-
11 sion, shall be granted in the court's sole discretion.
12 (b) In any jurisdiction in which a party may be eligible under local
13 law for free legal counsel, the court shall notify such party orally of
14 their ability to obtain free legal counsel pursuant to local law, and,
15 if such party elects to obtain, the court shall adjourn the trial for
16 not less than thirty days for such party to retain and consult counsel
17 and shall grant such further adjournments for not less than thirty days
18 each as are necessary for such party to retain and consult counsel.
19 § 2. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 745 of the real proper-
20 ty actions and proceedings law, as amended by section 17 of part M of
21 chapter 36 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
22 (a) In a summary proceeding upon the second of two adjournments grant-
23 ed solely at the request of the respondent, or, upon the sixtieth day
24 after the first appearance of the parties in court less any days that
25 the proceeding has been adjourned upon the request of the petitioner,
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07342-01-3
A. 4993 2
1 counting only days attributable to adjournment requests made solely at
2 the request of the respondent and not counting an initial adjournment
3 requested by a respondent unrepresented by counsel for the purpose of
4 securing counsel, whichever occurs sooner, the court may, upon consider-
5 ation of the equities, direct that the respondent, upon a motion on
6 notice made by the petitioner, deposit with the court sums of rent or
7 use and occupancy that shall accrue subsequent to the date of the
8 court's order, which may be established without the use of expert testi-
9 mony. The court shall not order deposit or payment of use and occupancy
10 where the respondent can establish, to the satisfaction of the court
11 that respondent has properly interposed one of the following defenses or
12 established the following grounds:
13 (i) the petitioner is not a proper party to the proceeding pursuant to
14 section seven hundred twenty-one of this article; or
15 (ii) (A) actual eviction, or (B) actual partial eviction, or (C)
16 constructive eviction; and respondent has quit the premises; or
17 (iii) a defense pursuant to section one hundred forty-three-b of the
18 social services law; or
19 (iv) a defense based upon the existence of hazardous or immediately
20 hazardous violations of the housing maintenance code in the subject
21 apartment or common areas; or
22 (v) a colorable defense of rent overcharge; or
23 (vi) a defense that the unit is in violation of the building's certif-
24 icate of occupancy or is otherwise illegal under the multiple dwelling
25 law or the New York city housing maintenance code; or
26 (vii) the court lacks personal jurisdiction over the respondent.
27 Two adjournments shall not include an adjournment requested by a
28 respondent unrepresented by counsel for the purpose of securing counsel
29 made on a return date of the proceeding, including an adjournment pursu-
30 ant to paragraph (b) of subdivision one of this section. Such rent or
31 use and occupancy sums shall be deposited with the clerk of the court or
32 paid to such other person or entity, including the petitioner or an
33 agent designated by the division of housing and community renewal, as
34 the court shall direct or shall be expended for such emergency repairs
35 as the court shall approve.
36 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to actions
37 and proceedings pending on and after such date.
