The Legal Aid Society and other tenants rights advocates are pushing back on directives released by Civil Court Administrative Judge Anthony Cannataro which some landlords have interpreted as a prerogative to seek personal and financial information from tenants.

The notices were released as the court prepares to allow certain eviction cases to proceed after June 20th, when a tenant is unable to prove financial hardship related to the COVID-19 epidemic.

Tenants rights advocates have decried the move, warning that the request places a burden on tenants already reeling from the impact of the city and state-mandated shutdown.

“[The DRPS are] putting the burden on tenants to demonstrate affirmatively that they were impacted,” Nakeeb Siddique, Director of Housing for the Brooklyn Neighborhood Office of The Legal Aid Society, told Law360.