City Program Helps Tenants Headed To Housing Court Find Legal Representation
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Maria Medina is a success story in Mayor Bill de Blasio's program to help tenants facing eviction.
As 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa reported, three years ago only one percent of tenants in trouble had legal representation.
"Now, because of the investments we've made -- more than 25 percent of tenants have a lawyer to protect their interests," the mayor said.
Medina was taking care of her great-grandson and her disabled brother while her notorious landlord was cashing her checks under a different name and taking her to court for failure to pay.
A friend told her where to get help.
"The word of mouth. This is a big place, but everybody are blabber mouths. They all help each other," she said.
Medina won her case. The landlord faced no criminal liability.