Even before the pandemic struck, over 10,000 Westchester households faced eviction each year and nearly 5,000 people annually entered Westchester's shelter system.

Eviction cases in Westchester housing courts are lopsided: 93% of landlords have attorneys but only 7% of tenants do. Tenants without legal representation typically lose their cases - and their homes - in just 3-4 minutes in a blur of rapid-fire judicial action.

Now the rental housing market in Westchester is in crisis. The pandemic recession has interrupted or destroyed thousands of Westchester families' jobs. The August 2020 unemployment rate in Westchester is still 11.1%. Thousands of Westchester households have been unable to pay their rent. There are state and federal moratoria that postpone evictions, but the unpaid rents continue to accumulate. As a result, Westchester is facing a "tsunami of evictions" when the current moratoria on evictions are lifted.

A Westchester Right 2 Counsel Coalition has been created to create a right to counsel for low-income tenants facing eviction. Similar programs have already been established in cities across the country including NYC, Cleveland and Minneapolis. These programs have effectively reduced the number of people annually evicted.

The R2C Coalition is asking Westchester residents to contact their county legislators and urge them to pass Right 2 Counsel legislation in Westchester. We can't afford to wait and let hundreds or even thousands more Westchester households flood our already over-burdened homeless shelter system. Please call or email your county legislator today!

-Karl Bertrand, LMSW
Co-Chair, Westchester County Continuum of Care Partnership for the Homeless
President/C.E.O., Program Design and Development, LLC

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