Housing Court- Brooklyn Style

Like all law centre solicitors, I have spent many long hours in the heritable court at Glasgow Sheriff Court, where eviction actions against tenants are dealt with.   In Glasgow these cases call on a Tuesday, with new cases calling at 2pm and continued cases calling at 10am.  The court sometimes runs until 6pm and at times, it can be an exercise in patience and stamina.  But the next time you are driven to distraction waiting three hours for your one contentious case, spare a thought for housing attorneys in New York. 

I went along to court with one of the attorneys from South Brooklyn Legal Services and learned that in Brooklyn, there are four "resolution" courts, running every day, with three callings a day, for residential landlord matters.  There is also a night court one day a week for unrepresented landlords, who usually own a fewer numbers of properties.  That's sixty one courts a week! 

I only had time to observe a couple of cases heard by Judge Mark Finklestein.   Apparently he is one of the most pro-tenant judges, but that was not obvious to me!  As I entered the court he was shouting at the defense attorney.  She was trying to persuade Judge Finklestein  to deal with an issue regarding outstanding repairs in an arrears action - she argued it was an issue of law rather than an factual dispute, but he was having none of it.  Judge Finklestein said that a mere statement in the papers did not prove repairs were required, so he would have to fix a trial hearing (proof). 

 

The agent held her own, but seemed shaken- I felt the Judge was pretty rude, raising his voice and rolling his eyes at her (in fairness to the Judge, I did miss the first few minutes of their exchange).  He seemed to mellow slightly whilst fixing the trial diet, saying it was perfectly reasonable for these arguments to be raised at trial, and that she may well be successful.

The court was packed with clients, as they attend procedural callings with their agents.  The heritable court in Glasgow routinely hears around 200 cases a calling so it would not be possible for every client to attend.

The court seemed to be less formal than in Scotland- there were filing cabinets holding files on show and a clerk working on a computer- I think the room effectively functions as the civil clerk's office too. Throughout the court, there was background talking and people coming in and out.  One thing I found unusual was the big sign behind the judge saying "In God We Trust". 

I will be going along to the housing court in Manhattan so I'll keep you posted!