Trail by Jury

[hifive]

We are scheduled to go infront of a jury in our Owner Occupancy case. Does anyone have experience with the negative or positive sides of a jury judging one's case?

[Anna]

IMHO, all tenants facing Owner Occupancy cases should have an experienced tenant atty represent them. Juries can only rule on the facts in a case, not on the law or on courtroom procedure (e.g., which evidence can be admitted). OTOH, you'll have a Civil Court judge, not a Housing Court judge: the LL's atty loses his advantage of knowing exactly how to play to the judge.

Try to avoid non-regulated tenants, people who recently moved to NYC, small property owners, small business owners. People who are paying excessively high rents resent anyone paying a more 'normal' rent (closer to the norm for the rest of the USA).