Our statewide Right to Counsel legislation – Right to Counsel for ALL – is part of our Housing Courts Must Change! (HCMC) Campaign, a statewide campaign launched in 2020 to transform the courts from an “eviction machine” to a place that upholds tenants’ rights, holds landlords accountable, and enables tenants to remain in their homes. Our goals, during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, include slowing down eviction cases and expanding Right to Counsel across New York State, so ALL tenants have and know about their rights and are emboldened to organize and fight to stop evictions.
Right to Counsel for ALL (A1493 / S2721) strengthens Right to Counsel in NYC and guarantees EVERY tenant across New York State the right to a lawyer when facing eviction! This crucial legislation would:
✅ Apply to ALL tenants facing eviction.
✅ Cover ANY case that could result in a tenant losing their housing.
✅ Require the courts, judges, and landlords to ensure that tenants know about and can use their Right to Counsel.
Factsheets
Download our factsheets to learn more about Right to Counsel for ALL and how it would impact tenants statewide.
Support Letters
- Organizational Support Letter to Governor Hochul - January 19, 2022
- Legal Services Providers Support Letter to Governor Hochul - April 18, 2022
- Clergy and Faith Leaders Letter to Governor Hochul - April 26, 2022
- Legal Services Providers Support Letter to Governor Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Heastie - March 14, 2023
- Clergy and Faith Leaders Letter to NYS Leadership - March 21, 2023
Take action!
- Call NYS leadership and your state Assembly Member and Senator TODAY and make sure they support the passage and full funding of Statewide Right to Counsel in the FY 2025 budget! A call script you can use is here. Check here to see whether your state legislators support our legislation.
- For organizations: endorse our legislation or become a campaign member!
- Connected to your Community Board (NYC), City or Common Council, or County Board? RTC can support you in advocating that your local elected leadership pass a resolution of support for Statewide Right to Counsel or send a letter of support to state leadership. Email [email protected] for support and check out these resolutions of support from Manhattan Community Boards Eight and Ten, and Albany Common Council, and letter of support from Manhattan Community Board 5.
Join us to build a movement for Right to Counsel across New York State!
ENDORSERS
1199SEIU
AARP New York
Anti-Eviction Mapping Project NYC
Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE)
Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD)
Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA) - UAW Local 2325
Astoria Tenants Union
Brooklyn Community Services
Brooklyn Defender Services
Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A
Buffalo Democratic Socialists of America
CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities
CAMBA Legal Services
Capital District DSA
Catholic Migration Services
Center for Elder Law and Justice
Center for Safety & Change
Center for the Independence of the Disabled, New York
Churches United for Fair Housing
Citywide Tenant Union of Rochester
Communities Resist
Community Action for Safe Apartments (CASA) - New Settlement
Community Resource Center of Larchmont and Mamaroneck
Community Service Society of New York
Community Voices Heard
Crown Heights Tenant Union
Cypress Hills LDC
District Council 37 Municipal Employees Legal Services
DRUM - Desis Rising Up & Moving
Empire Justice Center
Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project
Fair Housing Justice Center
Fifth Avenue Committee
Flatbush Development Corporation
Flatbush Tenant Coalition
For the Many
Frank H. Hiscock Legal Aid Society
Fund for the Modern Courts
Goddard Riverside Law Project
Homeless Alliance of Western NY
HOPE (Housing Organizers for People Empowerment)
Housing Conservation Coordinators
Housing Court Answers
Housing for All
Housing Help Incorporated
Housing Justice for All
Housing Opportunities Made Equal
Hudson Catskill Housing Coalition
Hudson Valley Justice Center
Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing
John Jay College Institute for Justice and Opportunity
JustCause
JustFix
Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, Inc.
Legal Services of Central New York, Inc.
Legal Services of the Hudson Valley's Staff Attorney Association, National Organization of Legal Service Workers, Local 2320
Lenox Hill Neighborhood House
Lifting Up Westchester, Inc.
LiveOn NY
Local 802 AFM
Long Island Activists
Long Island Housing Services, Inc.
Long Island Progressive Coalition
Los Sures
Lower Hudson Valley Democratic Socialists of America
Make the Road New York
Metropolitan Council on Housing
Midtown South Community Council
Mobilization for Justice
Mount Vernon United Tenants
National Action Network
National Organization of Legal Services Workers, Legal Services Staff Association (LSSA) - UAW Local 2320
Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem
Neighborhood Preservation Coalition
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
New York Association on Independent Living
New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU)
New York State Council of Churches
New York Legal Services Coalition
Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation (NMIC)
Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC)
NYC-DSA Housing Working Group
Partners for Dignity and Rights
Party for Socialism and Liberation
Prevent Child Abuse NY
Program Design and Development, LLC
Rockland Housing Action Coalition, Inc.
Safety Net Project - Urban Justice Center
Solidarity Committee (Capital District)
St Nicks Alliance
Syracuse Tenants Union
TakeRoot Justice
Tenants Political Action Committee
The Alternative to Economic and Housing Displacement Inc.
The Bronx Defenders
The Legal Aid Society (NYC)
The Legal Aid Society of Rochester
The Opera House Tenants Union
United Neighbors Organization (UNO)
United Tenants of Albany
United Way of Westchester and Putnam
VOCAL-NY
Volunteer Lawyers Project of Central New York, Inc.
Warpaint Project, Inc.
Westchester Children's Association
Westchester County Board of Legislators
Westchester Jewish Coalition for Immigration
Westchester Residential Opportunities, Inc.
Westside Neighborhood Alliance
Woodside on the Move
Workers United NY NJ Regional Joint Board
RESOURCES
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Right to Counsel for ALL legislation: (May / Joyner) (S2721 / A1493)
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2-pager: What is Statewide Right to Counsel (English | Español)
- Statewide Right to Counsel Frequently Asked Questions
- Fact Sheet: Why Statewide Right to Counsel Must Cover ALL Tenants
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Fact Sheet: The Potential Benefits and Estimated Cost of an Eviction Right to Counsel Outside of New York City
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Fact Sheet: How would NYC tenants benefit from statewide Right to Counsel?
- Watch a Recap of our 2023 Statewide RTC Budget Actions across New York State!
- Testimony: Access to Justice Commission and Chief Judge's 2023 Hearing on Civil Legal Services in New York ("Right to Counsel Testimony on Urgent Need For Statewide Right to Counsel and Enforcement of NYC’s Right to Counsel")
- Testimony: 2023 Joint State Legislative Budget Hearing on Housing ("Right to Counsel Coalition Testimony on Funding for a Statewide Right to Counsel (S2721/A1493)")
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Testimony: 2022 Joint State Legislative Budget Hearing on Housing ("Right to Counsel Coalition Testimony on Funding for a Statewide Right to Counsel and the Proposed $35 million for the Eviction Prevention Legal Assistance Program")
- Report: "Assembly Line Justice": Eviction Attempts Reach Record Highs in 2022
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Blog: Two new reports show that a statewide Right to Counsel is good for New York
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Report: The Estimated Cost of an Eviction Right to Counsel Outside of New York City
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Report: NYC Right to Counsel: First year results and potential for expansion
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Report: Right to Counsel and Stronger Rent Laws Helped Reduce Evictions in 2019