Res 0246-2024

Whereas, In New York City ("the City" or "NYC"), legally removing a tenant from a dwelling unit that the tenant lawfully occupies requires the owner of the unit to initiate a court proceeding and receive a subsequent judgment of possession from housing court; and Whereas, State and local laws prohibit property owners from harassing tenants to vacate a dwelling unit or behaving in a way that prevents tenants from safely occupying a dwelling unit, and failure to comply could result in a summons or arrest; and Whereas, According to an article by the City, an online publication, some property owners have been disregarding the law by changing locks and turning off utilities to unlawfully harass tenants into leaving their apartment without first going to court; and Whereas, An unlawfully evicted tenant can initiate a civil court proceeding, known colloquially as an illegal lockout case, in an attempt to seek damages from a property owner that committed an unlawful eviction or in an attempt to regain access to the dwelling unit; and Whereas, An analysis of the Office of Court Administration Housing Court Records dataset revealed that between February of 2024 and February of 2025 there were 1,878 illegal lockout cases filed within NYC, and, in that same time period, there were only 80 illegal eviction summonses issued by the New York City Police Department; and Whereas, Section 110(9) of the New York City Civil Court Act, a state law, states that such cases shall be "...returnable within five days, or within any other time period in the discretion of the court"; and Whereas, According to an article by the City, housing courts generally schedule illegal lockout cases within seven days, 2 days longer than the State's 5 day guideline, and can take longer to be scheduled; and Whereas, Illegally locked out tenants may need to find temporary lodging while their cases are ongoing; and Whereas, According to the Coalition for the Homeless, a homeless advocacy group, in the past few years homelessness in NYC has reached the highest levels since the Great Depression of the 1930s; and Whereas, The courts should act swiftly in unlawful eviction cases and restore a lawful tenant back to their apartment; and Whereas, Housing court should not have the discretion to hear unlawful eviction cases on a slower timetable than within five days; and Whereas, Expediting the process to hear these type of cases could help prevent unnecessary displacement and reduce the risk of homelessness; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, legislation requiring unlawful eviction cases to be heard within five days. Session 13 DJS LS #12087 03/20/2024 Session 12 JLC 3/22/2023 LS 12087