PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Michael Grinthall, Director of Housing Rights at Take Root Justice, on Illegal Evictions and Intro 622
2:06:03
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144 sec
Michael Grinthall, representing Take Root Justice, testified in support of all bills being heard, with a focus on Intro 622 addressing illegal evictions. He highlighted the current gaps in protecting lawful occupants without leases from illegal evictions and explained how Intro 622 could provide an alternative path for these individuals to seek justice.
- Emphasized that current state law fails to protect many lawful occupants (e.g., those without leases, family members, roommates) from illegal evictions
- Explained that Intro 622 would allow using the city's harassment law to bring cases in the HP part of housing court for illegal evictions
- Highlighted the need for improvements in the HP part to handle illegal eviction cases more effectively, including faster proceedings and clear judicial power to restore occupants to their apartments
Michael Grinthall
2:06:03
Good morning.
2:06:03
My name is Michael Grinthall.
2:06:05
I'm the director of housing rights at Take Root Justice.
2:06:08
Take Root Justice is in support of all of the bills that are being heard today, but I especially wanted to thank council member Nurse for her leadership on the issues of illegal eviction, and I'm going to speak specifically to intro 622.
2:06:24
So as mister Ma said, it is illegal to evict somebody in New York if they are a lawful occupant without going through housing court.
2:06:33
And a lawful occupant includes lots of people that we might not necessarily think of as having this right, including, people who, don't have leases, family members, roommates, subletters, live in caregivers after a tenant has left.
2:06:50
These are people who are extremely likely to be illegally evicted.
2:06:54
And right now, the state illegal eviction law is not protecting these people.
2:06:59
They fall through a crack, where when they go to housing court in order to get restored to their homes, which is what they're supposed to do, their cases are getting dismissed because they don't have leases.
2:07:12
We believe that's a wrong interpretation of the law, but it is the one that most housing court judges are following, and it is what's happening to people right now.
2:07:21
Intro 6/22 is a is is something that the city can do, to provide an alternate path for lawful occupants who don't have leases, who are illegally evicted from their apartments.
2:07:36
It helps you, it helps tenants or licensees use the existing harassment law, to bring a case in the HP part of housing court, since illegal eviction already comes under the definition of harassment under the city harassment law.
2:07:56
The problem right now is that the HP part in harassment cases are not really well set up to to to work for people who've been illegally evicted.
2:08:07
The cases drag on for months.
2:08:09
Many judges don't recognize, restoring somebody to their apartment as something that they have the power to do.
2:08:15
Intro 622 addresses those issues, and we think that it will make a big difference to 100 of New Yorkers who are illegally evicted every year.
2:08:26
Thank you.
