Single mother Angela Ricardo, grew up and raised her two children in apartment 4C. But that feeling of safety associated with home vanished when Ricardo received an eviction notice two weeks ago. Ricardo knew there was one place to plead her case and hope for the chance to avoid eviction: housing court.
           With the ongoing economic crisis, the Bronx Housing Court continues to admit large numbers of people through its revolving doors. Darkened glass windows and jutting geometric architecture make the Bronx Housing Court, located on 1118 Grand Concourse, appear foreign and out of place amongst the traditional brownstones and apartments.
Inside the building, past the metal detectors and police officers, are waiting people who look more foreign and out of place than the building itself.
On a Thursday afternoon, Ricardo and her two daughters, ages 4 and 8, are among the nine people waiting on line, eviction notices in hand, Â to ask general questions about the eviction process.
Also waiting in line, is Maria Sanchez, who owes hervlandlord $800. Sanchez worries she will become confused with the legal process and hopes to meet with an official who can guide her through the process. âÂÂI canâÂÂt afford a lawyer and I donâÂÂt understand legal terms,â Sanchez shared.
           According to Housing Court Answers, a not-for-profit organization devoted to helping tenants seek legal advice and representation, SanchezâÂÂs concern is not new. In 1986 the organization conducted a research study titled “Five Minute Justice.” The data collected showed that the average cases were dealt with in five minutes and that 88 percent of the tenants could not afford attorneys. Without proper legal protection, tenants could not properly defend themselves. But times are changing.
Recent studies have shown that the Housing Courts are improving how they represent tenants. On November 2006, the Civil Court of the City of New York, along with other official Justice offices, began a program that trained fifty volunteer lawyers and supervised the lawyers as they sought negotiations between tenants and landlords. The study was a success and the lawyers were able to shorten the time the tenant and landlord spent in front of the judge by finding middle ground beforehand.
With the success of the study and an urgency for better tenant representation, volunteer lawyers and staff members hired to explain the legal process can be found in the Bronx Housing Court. However, volunteer lawyers and other workers find it hard to ameliorate the impact that the recession is having on tenants and landlords in the poorest borough.
According to Fed Stats, an online data outlet released bythe United States government, in 2006 the average person residing in the Bronx made $13,959, about  $9,430 below the average income of a person residing in New York State. In March of 2009, the unemployment rate in the Bronx was 10.8 percent, just over 3 percent more than residents of New York City.
 More Bronx natives are being drawn to the Housing Court than in any of the other boroughs, according to a 2008 Caseload Activity Report from the City’s Civil Court. The government survey, that summarizes all recent filings within the Housing Courts, shows the Bronx Housing Court filed 82,848 petitions.
âÂÂI can tell you this. There arenâÂÂt more cases created [at 1118 Concourse] but in other places in the Bronx [such as] Riverdale, the Housing Court is seeing an influx of people,â said a clerk, who asked to remain anonymous. Though new files may not be starting at the Housing Court on 1118 Grand Concourse, the recession has affected some of those who do have existing cases.
âÂÂI can tell you that the recession is having an impact and has added to the trouble that these people are having when it comes to keeping their homes,â said Shariff Tahan, 29, a volunteer lawyer who generally dedicates his time to settling disputes between tenants and landlords or offering clarification on legal issues. âÂÂEven if the number of case files donâÂÂt show that there are more people entering the [Bronx Housing] system, more people are entering because they [have] lost their job[s] or they canâÂÂt pay off previous debt.âÂÂ
For an hour and a half Sanchez and her daughters wait their turn, sitting patiently on a wooden bench. âÂÂI just helped a tenant and a landlord solve their issue on the third floor,â said Alex Klein, a volunteer lawyer, when he approached Mrs. Sanchez, who would be his tenth case that day.
On each of the five floors, along the lengthy corridor, standing up or sitting down on the wooden benches are numerous caseworkers flipping through court documents. KleinâÂÂs job requires him to settle disagreements between landlords and tenants by negotiating a payment plan for the renter.Â
            âÂÂIt can be a frustrating process, but itâÂÂs worth it. For those not willing to negotiate, I schedule them to meet with a judge, either that day or sometime else. People are at all different stages in their evictions.â But on one level first time visitors tend to be on the same levelâÂÂthey are unclear how to navigate the modern building with five flights of towering stairs, a building they wish they never had to enter in the first place.
After passing through the metal detectors, tenants and landlords are instructed to proceed to the second floor. The landingopens to a bare sitting room, where itâÂÂs common to see someone stretched out on a bench sleeping or a family leaning on each other with bored expressions. To the right is the long corridor that the Bronx Housing Court is infamous for.Â
            âÂÂWhen you come out [of the court] the walk down [the hall] can seem like two seconds or three hours, [depending] on the ruling,â said Maggie Dreandre, a mother of five who is about to be evicted, after speaking to the head judge. âÂÂItâÂÂs not a nice place in the court room.
There is a judge and rows of benches. People just sit there waiting for their turn. Then when youâÂÂre name is called you have five to ten minutes to talk [with] the judge and try to come up with one last [deal].âÂÂ
âÂÂThere is a lot of waiting involved,â shared Louis Rodriguez, 45. Rodriguez has not paid her rent for five months after she lost her job working at Staples. Four days ago she received an eviction notice. âÂÂI had it coming. IâÂÂm not complaining, but this process is long. I looked in and the court room is scary, I donâÂÂt want to go in. It looks like people just sit there, wait there.âÂÂ
According to New York State Law, a landlord is not able to evict a tenant unless the tenant is brought to Housing Court. âÂÂIt can take months,â said Sashaela Maldado, 20, whose father is a landlord of five apartment buildings. Eviction is a long processes for landlords and depending on the cooperation of the tenants it can take anywhere from three to four months or even a year.
âÂÂIâÂÂm here because one of our tenants hasnâÂÂt paid their rent of $200 for five months. ItâÂÂs not really fair, we look like the bad people but the eviction process takes time and we need the money to pay for our bills,â said Maldado. But landlords are not the only ones looking for a way to solve financial problems.
For many families, there seems to be a constant struggle to find a decent job and hold onto their apartments. âÂÂI was working and then I got laid off, so it went from a two income family to a one income family,â said mother of four Manlanee Headly, 32. She blames the collapse of the economy as the reason she is facing eviction. Headley has come to the Bronx Housing Court to ask for three more weeks to acquire the $2,632 that her family owes to her landlord.
âÂÂI have spent my day in this building for the past three days and each day talk to people who have been hurt by the recession more [than I],â said Robert Z., who asked that his last name not be used. âÂÂWe wish for two things, to either win the lottery or be able to go back and invest in good stocks.â Bystanders shake their heads in agreement.