Helping Tenants in Housing Court

I am reflecting on my experiences in Queens Housing Court, and I think there are many ways that Landlords exploit the procedures of Housing Court to the detriment of Tenants. There are many ways in which Judges in Housing Court just narrowly look at issues in order to clear their Dockets. And I also believe that there are many ways that the City of New York should intervene, to put an end to the worst ways that the "fast food" injustice gets handed out, as a consequence. My agent for my Landlord is ADI Management, which is run by Herbert Donner. My actual landlady is Rosalind Spodek, the widow of "Dracula Landlord," J. Leonard Spodek.

One way the City could help Tenants would be to require that, before Landlords can file any Petitions in Housing Court, Landlords must certify that they are not withholding any documents from their Tenants. There is a particular need for this requirement, since, in my case, my Landlord withheld a copy of my Lease Renewal for months, until we had our "trial." The Landlord faced no consequences for their bad faith act. This needs to change, and a law must be passed to require that Landlords cannot withhold documents from Tenants, and that a certification must be made to this effect.

Another way that the City could help Tenants is to investigate all reports that Landlords are filing false instruments when they file Petitions in Housing Court. In my case, my Landlord filed a false Affidavit, saying that I was served with a Rent Demand, when I was never served with a Rent Demand. I later learned from an attorney at a large law firm that Landlords routinely file Petitions with false instruments. I also learned that, despite the routine occurrence of the filing of false instruments, the City never investigates these allegations. This needs to change, immediately.

Another way that the City could help Tenants is to require that, before any Landlord can file any Petitions in Housing Court, the Landlord must agree to accept a certain percentage of payment of "current rent" from the New York City Department of Human Resources Administration (HRA) during proceedings in Housing Court. This would provide some assistance to Tenants to meet their rents. One condition the City could impose on Landlords is that, in exchange for receiving a certain percentage of current rent during proceedings in Housing Court, Tenants would only pay, at most, one third of their current income as rent from that point in time going forward. Another condition imposed on Landlords is that, if the subject apartment is not rent-regulated, then the Landlord must subject the apartment to rent-regulations in exchange for receiving any payments from HRA.

There must be ways that the City should provide financial assistance to Tenants, and to impose conditions on Landlords, before or during proceedings in Housing Court. If the City is committed to the belief that housing is a human right, then the City must do more to prevent Landlords from violating the human rights of Tenants.