Housing Court DRP-217 Updates Procedures for Cases with Judgments or Warrants Issued Before March 17, 2020

On Aug. 16, 2021, the NYC Civil Court issued DRP-217, effective Aug. 16, 2021, regarding court management of pre-pandemic eviction proceedings in the NYC Civil Court, Housing Part. Noting that there were still about 18,000 pending eviction proceedings filed before March 17, 2020, that hadn't yet been restored to the court's calendars, the court set forth requirements for Housing Court processing of these cases. DRP-217 doesn't address cases commenced after March 16, 2020.

As now set forth in DRP-217, any requests for eviction warrants based on judgments of possession issued before March 17, 2020, must be presented to the court by motions made on notice to the respondent. The motions must be made returnable in the case's assigned resolution part if the respondent has an attorney, and in the court's HMP Part if the respondent doesn't have counsel.

In addition, a petitioner seeking to execute on an eviction warrant issued before March 17, 2020, must seek permission from the court by motion on notice to the respondent. These motions must include a notice to the respondent in a form attached to DRP-217. Again, these motions are returnable in the case's resolution part if both sides have attorneys, and in the HMP Part if the respondent doesn't have counsel.

Civil Court of the City of New York Directives and Procedures DRP-217 (Civ. Ct. NY; 8/16/21; Walker-Diallo, AJ) [5-pg. doc.]