NEW YORK-The New York State Bar Association has convened a landlord-tenant working group that will help the state's courts deal with an anticipated surge in landlord-tenant disputes resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.

With housing courts closed and a statewide moratorium on evictions in effect until Aug. 20, tenants and landlords must seek alternative ways to settle disputes. It is the working group's mission to come up with a way to help sick or financially struggling tenants reach agreements with their landlords through other options such as alternative dispute resolution.

NYSBA is working in partnership with the state's Unified Court System on this effort and they have built a pro bono network that is already busy helping jobless New Yorkers who are denied unemployment benefits appeal their claims.

"I am delighted to see the number of lawyers who have stepped forward to help unemployed New Yorkers appeal denied claims," Chief Judge Janet DiFiore says in prepared remarks. "But it's also crucial that we keep New Yorkers in their homes when the pandemic subsides. The involvement of pro bono attorneys will help our housing courts when they resume normal operations and assist those who perhaps cannot otherwise afford representation."

Henry M. Greenberg, president of the New York State Bar Association, noted that when the eviction moratorium lifts there will be an expected surge in landlord-tenant disputes. "We must therefore plan for that eventuality and recommend steps that can be taken to ensure due process for all concerned," he said.

Alan Levine, senior counsel at Cooley and former chair of the board of the Legal Aid Society of New York, will be the chair of the working group.

The membership of the working group includes:

New York County Supreme Court Justice Hon. Anthony Cannataro, who is the citywide administrative judge of the Civil Court of the City of New York
Ross Gilmore, partner at Sperber, Denenberg and Kahan and a member of the New York City Bar Association's Housing Court Committee
Beth Goldman, president & attorney-in-charge at New York Legal Assistance Group
Seymour W. James, partner at Barket Epstein Kearon Aldea & LoTurco, former attorney-in-chief of the New York City Legal Aid Society and past president of NYSBA
Kenneth Kanfer, an attorney at Kanfer & Holtzer
Mark Moretti, of counsel, Phillips Lytle
Domenick Napoletano, NYSBA treasurer and co-chair of NYSBA's Emergency Task Force for Solo and Small Firm Practitioners
Jason Polevoy, counsel at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, and chair of the New York City Bar Association Real Property Law Committee
Phil Rosen, managing partner at Horing, Welikson, Rosen and Digrugilliers
Andrew Scherer, co-chair, New York City Bar Association Task Force on the Right to Counsel, policy director of the Impact Center for Public Interest Law and visiting associate professor at New York Law School
Sara Wagner, chair of the New York City Bar Association Housing Court Committee and assistant director of the Teamsters Local 237 City Employees Union Legal Services Plan

Lawyers who are interested in joining this cause should go here to sign up.

Instant Insights /

New York State Bar Convenes Working Group for Landlord-Tenant Disputes

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