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Overview of Nonpayment Cases �

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Housing Court Answers

Housing Court Answers assists unrepresented tenants in New York City Housing Court. We staff information tables in the courts and a hotline.

Explaining how to access free lawyers, and how to get assistance with back rent
Helping unrepresented tenants understand Housing Court procedures

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Welcome!

This workshop is to give you basic information about nonpayment cases in Housing Court. After our presentation, we can answer some of your questions.

Remember, this is a public workshop, so don’t share anything about your case that you wouldn’t want a stranger to overhear!

This training is a general overview – we are not attorneys and cannot give legal advice.

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How to communicate

You can type a question into the chat by using the control panel at the bottom of your screen.

Here is how to ask a question or communicate with us during the workshop

[IF YOU’RE ALONE] “I will take questions after the 30-minute presentation” OR “I’ll keep an eye on the chat and try to answer Qs as they come up, but more complicated or off-topic ones will have to wait til the end.”
[IF YOU HAVE TECH SUPPORT PERSON] “_______ will try to answer Qs during the presentation in the chat, and we’ll address more complicated questions after the presentation.”

This screen shows which button to press for the chat. Look at the control panel at the bottom of the screen and look for the chat button, which we circled in green → try to introduce yourself in the chat now if you need practice!
[If we have a very big group of people,] we will try to answer as many questions as we can, but we only have 1 hour together, so we won’t be able to answer 100% of your questions,, especially if they are too specific to your situation or too complicated for us to address quickly.

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Our questions for you (answer in the chat!):

What borough do you live in?
Have you had your 1st court date yet?

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What is a nonpayment case?

An eviction case brought by a landlord in Housing Court to collect rent.

To avoid eviction, you need to first respond to the landlord’s case.
Try to figure out if the amount the landlord claims you owe is correct.
If the back rent can be paid, you can avoid eviction. But you still have to go through the court process!

Hotline

212-962-4795

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How will I know if my landlord started a case?

If you receive a Rent Demand the landlord might be getting ready to start the case against you.

If you receive a Petition and Notice of Petition, from a process server, or on your door or in your mail, the landlord has started the case.

The petition should have an index number on the upper right. Looks like: LT 123456-25/BX

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Hotline

212-962-4795

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How Do I Stop the Eviction?

You have 10 days to file an answer when you receive the papers.

Go to court and tell the clerk your defenses, reasons why you do not owe all or some of the rent the landlord is suing you for.

Court is open 9am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday.

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Hotline

212-962-4795

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Getting your court date

Once you give the clerk your defenses, you will get a copy with your court date.

It will have the time and location at the bottom of the page.

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Hotline

212-962-4795

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What do I do before my first court date?

Look over your papers carefully to figure out what you owe in rent.

Did you get credit for all of your payments?
Are program payments being made and did you get credit for them?
Is the landlord charging you fees or other things that are not rent?
Do you need repairs or services like heat or hot water?

Get your documents ready, you might need:

receipts for rent you paid
Proof of HRA or Section 8 payments
A lease or agreement showing your side of the story
Pictures of bad conditions

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Hotline

212-962-4795

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What happens on my first court date?

Go to court on the date and time listed on the answer form. Get to court early enough to get through security!

On your first court date, you will be screened for legal representation. Be sure to ask the court employees if this isn’t happening. You can say “I want a free lawyer for my case” and ask that you be screened before talking to the landlord or the landlord’s lawyer.

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Hotline

212-962-4795

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What happens next?

The court will expect you to try to settle your case. If you don’t get a lawyer at your first court date, you might negotiate a settlement with the landlord’s lawyer at the next one. Or you may ask for an adjournment (= a new court date), and keep negotiating at the next one.

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Hotline

212-962-4795

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How do I settle my case?

A settlement agreement is written up in a stipulation, a legal agreement saying who will do what.

The agreement might say:

rent owed and when it will be paid
What repairs are needed and when they will be made
If there is a judgment and warrant (more on this later….)
Anything else you and the landlord agree to

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Hotline

212-962-4795

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What if we can’t agree?

If the sides of a case cannot agree on a settlement, then the case goes to trial.

Try to talk to a lawyer before trial. If you go to trial, the judge will decide what amount you owe, and you might have only a short amount of time to pay.

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Hotline

212-962-4795

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What if I owe money but don’t have enough?

If you can pay the amount you owe soon, you can propose a payment plan. Don’t propose something that you can’t realistically comply with though!

New York City does have resources to help tenants who owe back rent.

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Hotline

212-962-4795

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Getting Help with Back Rent

We can help connect tenants to resources for back rent or ongoing help. Call our hotline to have a conversation about what resources you might qualify for:

One Shot Deal
Cash assistance
FHEPS / CityFHEPS
Private charities

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Hotline

212-962-4795

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How do I get more time to pay?

Look at your stipulation: is there a judgment and warrant?

→ If so, you need to do an Order to Show Cause to get a new court date.

A judgment and warrant allow the landlord to go to the marshal to schedule the eviction.

You need to act; call our hotline for help with next steps.

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Hotline

212-962-4795

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How do I get more time?

You can file an Order to Show Cause (OSC) to ask for a new court date. Ask the judge for more time to comply with a stipulation, usually to pay money you agreed to pay.

You must do this if you get a marshal’s notice or you will be evicted!

In your OSC, you can request more time to get a decision on the One Shot Deal from HRA or other money you have applied for.

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Hotline

212-962-4795

If you miss one or more payment deadlines, you can request a court date to ask the judge for more time to pay. You’ll need to go to court in person and fill out a form called an Order to Show Cause to request an appearance in front of the judge and request an extension.

When you request time, you’ll need to provide proof of what you’re doing to pay off the back rent. For example, if you’ve applied for the One Shot Deal and are waiting on a decision from HRA, you should attach proof of your pending application to your Order and request more time to get a decision.
Technically there is no limit as to how many times you can do an Order to Show Cause, but the more you do them, the less likely they are to be approved. Make every request the strongest possible by bringing and attaching printed proof of everything that you say.
If you have an attorney, you cannot do an Order to Show cause yourself. Contact your attorney to let them know you need more time.

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How does the case end?

The case ends when you have paid off your arrears, but if you want to be certain that the case is really closed, you can do an Order to Show Cause and ask for the case to be discontinued. If there is a judgment against you, you can ask for it to be vacated or satisfied.

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Hotline

212-962-4795

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Any Questions?

Remember, there are other people in the audience with you, so don’t bring up anything about your own case that you wouldn’t want a stranger to hear!

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Hotline

212-962-4795

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Call us!

Our hotline is open �Monday through Friday, 9 to 5. �Call 212-962-4795�

This workshop was presented in partnership with the Legal Aid Society and Legal Services NYC with funding from the NYC Office of Civil Justice.