Stop Rent Deposits: Tenants Launch Fight to Block pataki's Easy-Eviction Law

by Kenny Schaeffer

Met Council, working with tenants and affordable-housing advocates around the city, is waging a campaign to stop the Pataki law requiring evictions of tenants who can't deposit disputed rent into Housing Court.

The law, approved by State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver as part of the rent-regulation deal last June, is scheduled to go into effect on October 20. It takes away judges' power to prevent scheduled evictions by signing "orders to show cause." Mayor Rudolph Giuliani also backed the measure.

"We can't and won't sit back and let this unconstitutional and outrageous law lead to the evictions of tens of thousands of families, as intended," vowed Judith Goldiner of the Legal Aid Society. "Access to the courts will be denied if default eviction orders are issued when tenants are not able to deposit into court whatever the landlord claims is due."

What the Law Means

The law has two main provisions. One would remove the power judges now have to stop imminent evictions by signing an order to show cause, unless the tenant has already paid whatever the landlord claims they owe or has deposited it with the court. This will apply when the tenant has already appeared in court, and the landlord has won a judgment based on a trial, a stipulation of settlement, or the tenant failing to appear for a later court date.

The second provision applies to cases that are more than 30 days old, or where the tenant or court has requested a second postponement. Unless the tenant can deposit whatever the landlord claims has become due since the case was started, they will be automatically ordered evicted-they will not be allowed to present their case. There are narrow exceptions to these general provisions, including cases where some or all of the rent is payable by government subsidy.

Judges now halt scheduled evictions by issuing orders to show cause in tens of thousands of cases every year, according to Angelita Anderson, executie director of the City-Wide Task Force on Housing Court and a Met Council board member. If these evictions become automatic, she charges, "it is hard to see how anyone can claim that Housing Court provides tenants due process of law."

Under the existing law, judges can order tenants to deposit disputed rent into court, but they rarely exercise that power. Landlords claim that making rent deposits mandatory in all cases is necessary to prevent deadbeat tenants from dragging out litigation-a myth that is belied by the reality of Housing Court, where most tenants don't have lawyers and are rushed through the system with little chance to present their claims.

The new law is likely to cause thousands of cases where the landlord gets a judgment for money that may not even be owed, or a family who only needed a little more time to get the money together is evicted.

Requiring disputed money to be deposited into court in every case would be virtually impossible to administer, according to past and present administrative judges of New York City Civil Court. The law would also violate tenants' right to withhold rent as a protest against unsafe and unhealthy conditions. Tenants in small buildings would be required to turn over "undisputed" rents directly to the landlord before a case will even be heard.

October 20th

A demonstration at Housing Court is planned for 9 a.m. on the morning of October 20, when the law is scheduled to go into effect. "We demand that this unjust and illegal law not go into effect," explains Met Council activist Liz Wiseman.

"Twenty to twenty-five thousand families are evicted every year under the present law, which is far too many," points out Jenny Laurie, Met Coun-cil's executive director. "Most of these evictions result in a double destruction for the people of this city: Not only is another family's life destroyed, but the rent on the vacant apartment is frequently raised sharply. This will be even more drastic given the steep vacancy increases mandated by the rest of the Pataki Law, and will cause a noticeable worsening in New York's housing/homeless crisis."

In addition, Met Council is working with the Legal Aid Society, Legal Services, the City-Wide Task Force and other tenant advocates around the city to avoid increased evictions by providing assistance to both judges and tenants faced with rent-deposit demands by owners. Tenant advocates and attorneys will maintain a presence in the various Housing Courts beginning October 20, as was done in January 1996 during "Justice Week," the real-estate industry's unsuccessful attempt to force rent deposits under the existing law. On September 30, New York State's chief judge, Judith Kaye, announced proposals to "expedite" evictions. More next issue.

For information about the actions being taken to prevent illegal evictions under the rent-deposit law, call Met Council at (212) 693-0553, box 1. For more information about the law, call Met Council, or the City-Wide Task Force on Housing Court at (212) 982-5512.