What to do when you're facing eviction in Erie County, New York
An eviction notice in Erie County is a different situation from simply falling behind on rent — once your landlord files in court, the most useful thing you can do is get a lawyer, and here you can get one at no cost. Tenants who go to housing court with an attorney are far more likely to keep their homes or win extra time to work things out, yet most people facing eviction show up with no one in their corner.
This page covers how to get that lawyer, what your landlord is and isn't allowed to do while the case plays out, and where to turn if you've already lost your housing. If you're not facing eviction and just need help covering rent, that's a different kind of help — see our page on rental assistance in Buffalo and Erie County.
Get a lawyer for free
If your landlord has filed against you, or you've been handed a notice and think court is coming, call the Western New York Eviction Prevention Program at (844) 230-7376. It provides free attorneys to income-eligible tenants throughout Erie County, and it's run by Neighborhood Legal Services together with the Volunteer Lawyers Project, the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, the Center for Elder Law and Justice, and the Western New York Law Center.
A lawyer can answer the court papers for you, point out mistakes in how the eviction was filed or served, raise problems like unsafe conditions, negotiate a deal with your landlord, and ask the court for more time — things that are hard to do on your own under pressure. You can read more about this help on the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo's housing page at https://legalaidbuffalo.org/capability/housing/.
What your landlord can and can't do
In New York, a landlord can't force you out on their own. They can't change your locks, remove your belongings, or shut off your heat or water to push you out — only a court can order an eviction, and only after a case has run its course. If a landlord locks you out or cuts off utilities, that's an illegal lockout, and you can call the police as well as the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo's housing unit at 716-853-9555, extension 453, for immediate help.
Where your case is heard depends on where you live. If you're inside the city of Buffalo, it goes through the housing part of Buffalo City Court, and you can ask for a free attorney right there at your first appearance. If you live in one of Erie County's towns or villages, your case is moved to a single countywide "HUB Court" that meets remotely, and the same hotline number connects you to a lawyer for it.
If you're being evicted over nonpayment
When the eviction is about money you've fallen behind on, there may be a way to clear the back rent and stop the case. Erie County's Department of Social Services can sometimes make a one-time payment toward what you owe when eviction is the alternative — that help, and how to apply for it, is laid out on our page covering emergency assistance through Erie County Social Services. Bring it up with your lawyer too, since they can help time it with your court date so the payment actually stops the eviction rather than arriving too late.
Getting rehoused after an eviction
If the eviction has already gone through and you've lost your place — or you're staying in a car, a motel, or doubled up with someone — getting back into permanent housing in Erie County runs through what's called coordinated entry. Instead of cold-calling agency after agency, you go through one shared intake that figures out which housing programs you qualify for and lines you up for them.
The Homeless Alliance of Western New Yorkruns it, and a common option it leads to is rapid rehousing: short-term help with move-in costs and a caseworker who stays with you, so you can get into your own place and hold onto it once the help winds down. Agencies like the Matt Urban Center handle outreach and rehousing on the ground, and you reach their programs through that coordinated entry process. You can see how it works and where to start here at https://wnyhomeless.org/continuum-of-care/coordinated-entry/. If what you need first is a bed tonight or transitional housing, that's covered separately on our page about shelters and transitional housing in Erie County.
Buffalo and the surrounding county are home to a large refugee and immigrant community, and the legal programs and intake lines above can arrange interpretation, including Spanish, so a language barrier shouldn't keep anyone from getting help.
Not sure where to start
If your situation doesn't fit neatly into any of this, 211 WNY can point you to the right place — dial 2-1-1 any time. But if you've been served with court papers, don't wait on hold to figure it out: the sooner you call the eviction-defense hotline at (844) 230-7376, the more your lawyer can do, and the better your odds of staying put.
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