Testimony: Right to Counsel Has Proven Its Impact — Now It’s Time to Fully Fund It
Oksana Mironova
Thank you to the New York City Council’s Committee on Oversight and Investigations for holding an Oversight hearing about the Right to Counsel in Housing Court.
My name is Oksana Mironova and I am a senior policy analyst at the Community Service Society of New York (CSS), a nonprofit organization that promotes economic opportunity for New Yorkers. We use research, advocacy, and direct services to champion a more equitable New York and to address the effects of the state’s housing affordability crisis.
For decades, we’ve tracked eviction trends in New York. In our 2025 report, Preventing Eviction in New York State: A Snapshot of What Works and What Doesn’t, our analysis of the New York State Unified Court System’s data showed the striking impact of Right to Counsel on tenant stability. Eviction filings declined by 49 percent between 2017 and 2024 to 114,000. This is an indicator of changing landlord behavior, likely resulting in a reduction of informal displacement in New York City. Between 2017 and 2024, court-ordered evictions declined by 26 percent, falling to 15,400. Right to Counsel (RTC), local anti-harassment laws, and strengthened rent regulation are working in tandem to lower eviction rates in New York City.
At the same time, underfunding hampers the implementation of the city’s Right to Counsel law from reducing evictions further. Anywhere from a fifth to a third of income-eligible tenants face housing court without legal counsel because systemic underfunding of the program has resulted in a dire shortage of tenant attorneys. Bronx tenants are facing the biggest challenge in accessing legally mandated representation.
In non-payment cases, which make up the majority of evictions heard in housing court, legal defense is intricately tied to emergency assistance programs administered by the Human Resources Administration (HRA). RTC attorneys help tenants navigate application processes for emergency rental assistance (One Shot deals), FHEPS (Family Homelessness & Eviction Prevention Supplement), and other eviction prevention services. This effectively supports HRA’s capacity and prevents backlogs.
There is also the issue of housing quality—represented tenants are more successful in resolving repairs and maintenance issues during their housing court settlement. Unrepresented tenants generally do not have the expertise to negotiate with landlords’ attorneys for repairs.
New York City must do more to defend and uphold Right to Counsel. We join legal service providers and the RTCNYC Coalition in calling for full funding for the Right to Counsel law. Full implementation requires, at a minimum, an additional $350 million in funding, which will help ensure there are enough attorneys to represent everyone entitled to RTC.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify. If you have any questions about my testimony or CSS’s research, please contact me at omironova@cssny.org.