Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s latest budget proposal includes a boost for the initiative, which connects low-income renters facing eviction with legal representation in housing court. But advocates say it’s not enough to meet demand. “We end up having to turn away eligible tenants,” one attorney said.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s latest budget proposal includes a boost for the city’s Right to Counsel initiative, which connects low-income tenants facing eviction with legal representation in housing court—but advocates are pressing for more, as the program continues to struggle to meet demand.
According to a recent report from the Mayor’s Office, the number of households assisted with legal services through the program dropped by 15 percent during the first four months of 2026 compared to the previous year.
The rate of tenant representation has steadily declined since the end of the COVID-19 eviction moratorium in January 2022, and since the city expanded Right to Counsel eligibility citywide, up from just a handful of zip codes initially. Advocates and overwhelmed providers have long called for more resources for the initiative, which they say has never gotten enough funding to serve all those eligible.
“Everyone who is qualified should get a lawyer in housing court,” Christina Brown, a public defender with the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG), said at a press conference outside Brooklyn housing court last month. “We end up having to turn away eligible tenants.”
In his executive budget proposal unveiled last week, the mayor included $198.2 million for RTC, up from $180.6 million in the adopted budget the year prior, according to a City Hall spokesperson. Mamdani is also proposing a further boost next year, earmarking $222.4 million for the program in fiscal year 2028, the spokesperson said.
Advocates, though, are pressing for a bigger bump, especially as Mamdani has made the interests of renters a focal point of his administration. The Right to Counsel NYC Coalition is calling for at least $350 million for the program this year, organizers said.
The City Council broke national ground when it pioneered the Right to Counsel program in 2017, offering free legal services to low-income tenants on the brink of eviction. In order to qualify, tenants’ household income must not exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty line, around $66,000 for a family of four. Legal nonprofits receive funding from the city to represent the tenants in housing court.
But the program is struggling to cover the growing volume of tenants who are eligible for the services. That includes Stacy Ragland, a 52-year-old nursing aide who is facing eviction from her Bronx apartment after falling behind on rent because of the cost of her daughter’s college tuition.
“When the semester ends, my daughter might not even have a home to come back to,” she said.
After appearing in court in March, Ragland sought assistance from a paralegal at The Legal Aid Society, but said she was told “intake was at capacity.” She’s trying to secure a One Shot Deal—emergency assistance administered by the city’s Human Resources Administration—but remains unsure whether or not she’ll get it ahead of her May 29 court date.
Without assistance from an attorney, she says, “all I can do is just pray and go in.”
Unlike criminal court, defendants in housing court do not have the legal right to a lawyer, and many who show up go through the process alone. The New York City Tenant Coalition has called on the Office of Court Administration to “adjourn cases when no RTC attorney is available.”
When tenants do manage to access support through Right to Counsel, they tend to avoid eviction. In 2024, 89 percent of households that were represented by an attorney remained stably housed—a testament to the efficacy of the program. One study found that 51 percent of tenants without legal representation had final judgements against them in housing court.
“The fundamental issue with the Right to Counsel program is the lack of funding from the city,” said Runa Rajagopal, managing director of civil practice at the Bronx Defenders.
This sentiment was echoed by Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson in her speech at a Right to Counsel town hall in March, where she urged the city to “expand funding and hire more defenders.”
Gibson described her borough as “the epicenter of the eviction crisis in New York.” With nearly 60 percent of Bronx residents reportedly rent burdened—meaning they spend more than 30 percent of their gross income on housing—the borough has some of the highest eviction rates in the state.
After receiving an eviction filing for her Bronx apartment last month, the Neighborhood Association for Inter-Cultural Affairs (NAICA) connected tenant Shelly Villafane with a public defender to represent her in court. She attests to the “mental benefit of knowing that a lawyer is there to help me.”
(Photo by Luan Rogers)
Villafane, a mother of three, represented herself in housing court in a separate eviction case in 2024. “It was nerve-wracking,” she said. “You’re afraid to say the wrong thing and jeopardize your children.”
Currently, Right to Counsel only exists in New York City and Westchester County. Amid an ongoing affordability crisis, housing advocates are pushing lawmakers in Albany to expand it statewide. A 2025 study indicates that some tenants outside the city may in fact be more at risk of evictions, with nearly 23 percent of Syracuse tenants reporting an eviction attempt in the last year—10 percentage points higher than in the city. Under the proposed legislation, Right to Counsel would extend to all tenants, regardless of income.
Meanwhile, at the city level, a mayoral spokesperson said Mamdani will “continue to be engaged with stakeholders,” as he and the City Council negotiate a final budget plan, which is due July 1.
The Right to Counsel NYC coalition is expected to meet with the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants to discuss funding the program this Friday.
“It shouldn’t just be a law on paper,” says Rajagopal of the Bronx Defenders. “It should be a right felt by people.”
With additional reporting by Jeanmarie Evelly. To reach the editor, contact [email protected]
Want to republish this story? Find City Limits’ reprint policy here.