http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/23/opinion/a-right-to-a-lawyer-to-save-your-home.html 2016-09-23 09:53:48 A Right to a Lawyer to Save Your Home A smart new bill would make New York City the first in the country to provide lawyers for all lower-income tenants facing eviction. === There are few legal fights more lopsided than In New York City’s housing court, it’s usually a team of lawyers representing the landlord going against a tenant, unrepresented and alone. The claims for eviction vary — the tenant owes months of back rent, or is not named on the lease. If the landlord doesn’t win, very often the tenant is muscled out with threats and harassment. Many others are pushed out when landlords — eager to raise rents or demolish buildings to make way for pricey new developments — illegally withhold basic services like heat and hot water, or offer paltry buyouts. Judges witness this unfairness all the time, but there’s little they can do about it. While the Constitution Now, New York City, where affordable housing is in The City Council is considering Having a lawyer makes all the difference. When tenants represent themselves in court, they end up being evicted almost half the time. With a lawyer, tenants win 90 percent of the time. In trying to level the housing-court playing field, Mayor Mr. de Blasio deserves credit for making this a priority, but the city can do much more. Current spending provides lawyers to about one-quarter of lower-income tenants. Legal representation for all would total about $200 million a year, the bar association report estimates. But the city could save far more than that, both by keeping more than 5,000 families out of homeless shelters — at an annual savings of $43,000 per family — and by preserving thousands of existing affordable apartments instead of building new ones. The report estimates that the total net savings could exceed $300 million. In a city with an