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The Effects of Legal Representation on Tenant Outcomes in Housing Court: Evidence from New York City's Universal Access Program

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  • Michael T. Cassidy
  • Janet Currie

Abstract

Housing is one of the areas where it may be most critical for poor people to have access to legal representation in civil cases. We use the roll-out of New York City’s Universal Access to Counsel program (UA) to assess the effects of legal representation on tenant outcomes, using detailed address-level housing court data from 2016 to 2019. The program offers free legal representation in housing court to tenants with income at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty guideline. We find that tenants who gain lawyers are less likely to be subject to possessory judgments, face smaller monetary judgments, are less likely to have eviction warrants issued against them, and are less likely to be evicted. Lawyers have larger effects in poorer places and in those with larger shares of noncitizens. Our results support the idea that legal representation in civil procedures can have important positive impacts on the lives of poor people.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael T. Cassidy & Janet Currie, 2022. "The Effects of Legal Representation on Tenant Outcomes in Housing Court: Evidence from New York City's Universal Access Program," NBER Working Papers 29836, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29836
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    Cited by:

    1. Ashley C. Bradford & Johanna Catherine Maclean, 2024. "Evictions and psychiatric treatment," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(1), pages 87-125, January.
    2. Hoynes, Hilary & Maestas, Nicole & Strand, Alexander, 2023. "Legal Representation in Disability Claims," SocArXiv svcy3, Center for Open Science.
    3. Hilary W. Hoynes & Nicole Maestas & Alexander Strand, 2022. "Legal Representation in Disability Claims," NBER Working Papers 29871, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • K15 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Civil Law; Common Law
    • K4 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior

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