The Legal Aid Society is applauding a new policy to speed up housing court proceedings seeking repairs in residential buildings subject to vacate orders and other emergency conditions.

“No New Yorker should be forced to languish in a shelter, hotel room, or other temporary housing, unable to return home, simply because of court delays beyond their control,” reads a statement from Legal Aid. “For tenants displaced by a vacate order, every additional day away from home can mean disruption to their employment, their children’s education, their health care, and their sense of stability and community.”

“We are proud to have worked with the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development to develop this landmark policy, which recognizes the urgent need to resolve these cases more efficiently and get tenants back home as quickly and safely as possible,” the statement continues. “This new policy is a significant and long-overdue reform that will provide much-needed relief to families who have already endured the trauma and uncertainty of being forced from their homes.”