The recent shift to virtual intake in Queens Housing Court has prompted delays and confusion, leaving tenants unsure of who is representing them and attorneys short on time to discuss cases with their clients. Attorneys with NYLAG’s Tenants’ Rights Unit spoke with the Queens Daily Eagle about some of the difficulties that have come with these changes:
Attorneys at the nonprofit New York Legal Assistance Group said they receive shorter notice when a new client is assigned to them under the virtual system. They often have to waste valuable time trying to contact their clients for basic information they previously received right away under the old system, the attorneys claim.
“It is the norm now for us to get cases three days before the next appearance,” Adina Weisberg, a senior supervising attorney with the NYLAG’s Tenants’ Rights Unit, told the Eagle. “It’s also causing a lot of anxiety among the tenants. Tenants are coming to court not ever having spoken to an attorney.”
Dana Christensen, another senior supervising attorney with the NYLAG’s Tenants’ Rights Unit, said that all in all, the virtual intake change has created more steps and more work, all while giving legal aid providers less time to prepare.
“Right to Counsel [is based on] the idea that everyone deserves the right to representation,” Christensen said. “And if you’re not allowing your attorney to meaningfully meet with you and meaningfully prep for these cases, then we’re just back to being in an eviction mill. We’re back to being bill collectors and not actually helping our clients enforce their rights.”
But being on a short time frame isn’t the only issue.
Johnathan Fox, director of the Tenants’ Rights Unit at NYLAG, told the Eagle he’s seen a noticeable decrease in the number of clients who are not proficient in English since the intake system went virtual. Fox said the extra bureaucratic steps, and even something as simple as requiring them to scan a QR code for intake, creates new barriers and new ways to confuse and frustrate tenants looking for legal help.
Fox also said legal aid providers were not consulted when the change went into place, and providers have had to put in extra work to fill in the system’s gaps.
“It upended everything,” Fox told the Eagle. “We have to chase [clients] down and naturally people slip through the cracks.”
Read the full story, originally published in the Queens Daily Eagle on Dec. 2, 2025.
