Housing Court

Mayor Lovely A. Warren submitted legislation to City Council that will lead to the establishment of a designated housing part in Rochester City Court, commonly called a “ Housing Court,” to better protect tenant and landlord rights, and ensure equitable access to housing.

“It is gratifying to see our work move to the State Legislature,” said Mayor Warren. “This Court will give the concerns of our renters the focused attention they deserve. I applaud and thank Judges Doran, Johnson and Miller for their support for this Court, which will help guarantee the fundamental human right of safe, quality and affordable housing is delivered to every city resident.”

Mayor Warren’s legislation asks Council to approve a Home Rule Message to the State Legislature to establish a designated housing part that allows a City Court Judge to deal exclusively with matters pertaining to landlord/tenant relationships.

These include payment of rent issues, habitability of residential units and City Code compliance for residential buildings. The housing part will create an exclusive forum for landlords and tenants to deal with issues directly effecting their respective quality of life issues. Such matters were previously conducted by City Court Judges dealing with a wide variety of civil and criminal matters.

The Court has been one of Mayor Warren’s top priorities. The model was developed in a collaboration with the Mayor, members of City Council, the Department of Neighborhood and Business Development and the Justice for All Coalition in cooperation with 7th Judicial District Administrative Judge Craig Doran and City Court Supervising Judge Teresa Johnson. City Court Judge Stephen Miller will preside over the Court.