Hon. Kevin M. Carter, Administrative Judge of the Eighth Judicial District is pleased to announce a dedication ceremony for the newly created Erie County Landlord Tenant HUB Court. The dedication ceremony will be held in-person on June 2, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. at Buffalo City Court, 50 Delaware Avenue on the seventh floor. Members of the public and media are invited to attend.
The Erie County Landlord Tenant HUB Court is the first court in the State of New York to operate virtually with a presumptive Alternative Dispute Resolution model. The HUB Court which has operated on a pilot basis since December 2021 has handled in excess of 900 new filings transferred from Erie County’s 36 local Town and Village Justice Courts. Under the HUB Court model, any tenant who is income eligible receives legal representation furnished by a consortium of legal service providers, including the Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project, Neighborhood Legal Services, Center for Elder Law and Justice, Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, and the Western New York Law Center. The HUB Court assures for the effective deployment of civil legal services by virtue on being housed in a single location. It would be nearly impossible to provide civil legal representation throughout 36 different town and village justice courts. The HUB Court also helps to assure consistency of outcome and access to justice in the complex legal world of landlord tenant eviction matters.
A collaborative team comprised of court leaders from the Eighth Judicial District together with the civil legal service providers mentioned above and an attorney from the landlord’s bar met for a number of months to refine the HUB Court model, achieve support from local Town and Village Justices as well as Buffalo City Court.
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