Serving Long Island and Monroe County
The Tenant Advocacy Practice Group at Empire Justice Center provides direct representation of tenants, technical assistance and training for other housing advocates, and we engage in policy work for the benefit of low-income tenants.
Our geographic service areas include Monroe County, Nassau County, and Suffolk County, New York. In Rochester and Monroe County, we take impact litigation cases which have a potential to set good precedent, test new tenant protection laws, or otherwise positively impact numerous tenants. On Long Island, we represent tenants that are ineligible for assistance via other legal services organizations due to immigration status or conflicts of interest.
Long Island
If you are a tenant on Long Island seeking representation, we recommend contacting Legal Services of Long Island first:
Hempstead: (516) 292-8100
Islandia: (631) 232-2400
Riverhead: (631) 369-1112
If Legal Services of Long Island is unable to represent you due to your immigration status or a conflict of interest, they will refer your case to us and we will reach out to you.
Monroe County
If you are a tenant in Rochester or Monroe County seeking representation, we recommend reaching out to the Tenant Defense Project first:
Rochester or Monroe County: (585) 504-6195
The Tenant Defense Project will refer your case to us if you meet our impact litigation eligibility requirements and if we have capacity to take your case.
If you are a tenant advocate or policy maker and would like to schedule a training session or discussion on any issue related to tenant advocacy, eviction defense, repair cases, or other housing matters, please call us at (585) 295-5802.
Tenant AdvocacyTeam
AJ Durwin
Ariel Sotelo
Diana Ricuarte
Lauren Guillem
Michelle Applegate
Paola Rengifo
Sarah Shaw
Sean Ripoll
Resources
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In today’s testimony, we respectfully ask you for the following: A full PDF version of this testimony is available for your convenience.
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Joint Legislative Public Hearings on 2025-2026 Executive Budget Proposal This testimony touches on the work of the New York State Office for the Aging, the Office of Children and Family Services, the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, and the Department of Health. We will discuss the positions set forth below: A PDF version is available for […]
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Training Videos
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This program will provide a basic overview of summary proceedings and the practice of landlord/tenant law outside the City of New York. This program is open to NY-based tenant advocates...
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This presentation, recorded on 6/28/2023, details how to effectively provide services to and advocate for clients who are Limited English Proficient (LEP). Attendees will learn about the concept of Language...
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This presentation, previously recorded on June 14, 2023, gives viewers an understanding of public benefits available to low income homeowners. This program will provide an overview of what foreclosure prevention...
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This presentation was recorded 1/13/2023 In this presentation we look at the end stages of foreclosure cases. Looking at the timeline for sales, we examine order of reference to judgment...
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This presentation was recorded 1/13/2023. Reverse mortgages can be confusing. In this presentation we’ll give a general overview of a reverse mortgage and how they operate. Then we will look...
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This presentation was recorded 1/13/2023 In this training presentation, we will review a range of loss mitigation tools such as Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE’s) like Freddie and Fannie, FHA and...
Recent News
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