New York City Civil Court

Updated on Oct 20, 2023

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Jurisdiction New York City
Formed September 1, 1962 (1962-09-01) Court executives Fern Fisher, deputy chief administrative judge Carol Alt, chief clerk Parent department New York State Unified Court System Key document New York City Civil Court Act Website nycourts.gov/courts/nyc/civil

The Civil Court of the City of New York is a civil court of the New York State Unified Court System in New York City that decides lawsuits involving claims for damages up to $25,000 and includes a small claims part (small claims court) for cases involving amounts up to $5,000 as well as a housing part (housing court) for landlord-tenant matters, and also handles other civil matters referred by the New York Supreme Court. It handles about 25% of all the New York state and local courts' total filings. The court has divisions by county (borough), but it is a single citywide court.

Jurisdiction

The Civil Court has monetary jurisdiction up to $25,000, including replevin when the value of the chattel does not exceed that amount, real property actions such as partitions, and foreclosures within the monetary limit, and also has equity jurisdiction limited to real property actions, ejectment actions, and actions to rescind or reform a contract not involving more than the $25,000 jurisdictional limit.

Structure

The court's divisions are by each county (borough). In each division there are a number of court parts established by the Chief Administrative Judge:

Housing part (housing court), for actions and proceedings involving the enforcement of state and local laws for the establishment and maintenance of housing standards, including but not limited to the Multiple Dwelling Law and the housing maintenance code, building code and health code of the New York City Administrative Code.

Small claims parts (small claims court), for the hearing and disposition of all small claims proceedings.

Calendar part, for the maintaining and calling of a calendar of cases, and for the hearing and disposition of all motions and applications, including orders to show cause and applications for adjournments, in civil actions that have been placed on a reserve or ready calendar but not yet assigned to a trial part.

Trial part, for the trial of civil actions and for the hearing and determination of all motions and applications, including orders to show cause, made after an action is assigned to a trial part.

Motion part, for the hearing and determination of motions and applications that are not otherwise required to be made in a calendar part, trial part or conference part.

Conference part, for the precalendar or pretrial conference of actions.

Multipurpose part, for the performance of the functions of a calendar part, a trial part, a motion part, a conference part, as well as other special parts of court.

Judges

New York City Civil Court judges are elected countywide or from districts to 10-year terms, with vacancies filled by the mayor and service continuing until the last day of December after next election. A candidate needs to file petitions to be considered a candidate for a political party's nomination in the general election; petitions containing 4,000 signatures are needed for a county-wide seat, and petitions containing 1,500 signatures are necessary for a district seat.

Party leaders frequently designate candidates for the Civil Court judgeships, who then face an open primary against others who qualify for the ballot. The party machine usually manages to elect most of its judicial candidates.

Housing Part judges are appointed by the Chief Administrative Judge to five-year terms. Civil Court or Family Court Judges may be assigned by the New York Chief Judge to the Supreme Court and are referred to as "Acting Supreme Court Judges". The Chief Judge of New York, in consultation with the Chief Administrative Judge, Administrative Judges, Supervising Judges and the Presiding Justice of the relevant Appellate Division, assigns judges to sit in the county in which they were selected or another county, for example a judge elected to New York City Civil Court in Manhattan could be assigned to Family Court in the Bronx, although an acting Supreme Court judge is usually assigned to the county in which they were elected.

Arbitrators

With the consent of the parties, a volunteer arbitrator hears and decides disputes in small claims parts. Over 2800 arbitrators preside over 95% of the cases heard in small claims parts. They are appointed by the administrative judge of the court.

Tenant blacklist

Landlords in New York City may use a blacklist of persons who have appeared in housing court as a plaintiff or defendant. Known among housing advocates and lawyers as the tenant blacklist, it is compiled by tenant-screening database companies from housing court records.