Westchester Insider: Westchester County Legislator Borgia statement on Access to Counsel Law Passage.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: BORGIA STATEMENT ON OFFICE OF HOUSING COUNSEL LAW TO BE VOTED ON IN TONIGHT’S BOARD OF LEGISLATORS MEETING. 

(May 15, 2023) "The new Westchester County Office of Housing County, known as “Access to Counsel” passed at tonight’s Board of Legislators’ meeting, 

This new agency housed in the Department of Social Services, will provide access to attorneys for residents whose annual gross income is less than 300% of the Federal poverty level or 60% of area median income (AMI), covering a significant number of Westchester residents.  

This law sets a gold standard for access to housing counsel. Once the office is in operation, tenants will have access to brief legal representation or full legal representation on a host of housing matters, including eviction proceedings, landlord’s failure to provide proper notice of rent increase, maintaining or restoring essential services to the tenant, among others.

Even before the pandemic, it was obvious that housing costs were too high, causing economic strain for Westchester families and harming local economies. In 2019, I spent time in several local courts and I saw how unrepresented tenants were outmatched in court. The end of the pandemic-era eviction moratorium has created a huge jump in eviction proceedings, increasing risk of homelessness for families already struggling with high costs."