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New York State Sen. Luis Sep\u00falveda at the state capitol in Albany in 2019. (NYS Senate Media Services) <\/p>\nOn at least four occasions, New York State Sen. Luis Sep\u00falveda, who also has a private law practice, failed to appear in court for tenants he was defending from eviction. Housing court judges chastised him at least twice, and more than one tenant lost their case as a result.<\/p>\n
New York State Sen. Luis Sep\u00falveda at the state capitol in Albany in 2019. (NYS Senate Media Services) <\/p>\n
Facing eviction, Stephanie Perez showed up at 9:30 a.m. Monday at housing court on Grand Concourse in the Bronx. Her attorney, New York State Sen. Luis Sep\u00falveda, did not.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t the first time. Sep\u00falveda, who represents a swath of the Central Bronx in Albany, also has a law practice and takes on a range of clients, including housing cases.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Sep\u00falveda had yet to file an answer\u2014the first step in an eviction defense\u2014when he was due in court on Monday morning to represent Perez, whose landlord filed to evict her after she said she began withholding rent in order to force repairs. The lawmaker had already tried to reschedule an earlier hearing in February in the case, records show.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s never physically appeared in court\u2026 which is a bit outrageous,\u201d said the landlord\u2019s attorney, William Sheehan, in court Monday.<\/p>\n
Bronx housing court Judge Madalina Danescu asked Perez to call Sep\u00falveda from the stand. When the senator picked up, Perez held her cell phone up to the court\u2019s microphone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to know why you are not here,\u201d the judge said. \u201cIt is not appropriate to not appear on multiple occasions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sep\u00falveda replied that he was \u201cnot in New York State right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite being retained as Perez\u2019s attorney in early February, Sep\u00falveda hadn\u2019t answered the landlord attorney\u2019s petition before the appearance, which led to Perez facing an \u201cinquest\u201d Monday\u2014a legal proceeding that only gets scheduled when there is an unresponsive defendant.<\/p>\n
The court\u2019s frustration with Sep\u00falveda was apparent. When the lawmaker said he was having trouble hearing the judge through his client\u2019s speakerphone, Danescu snapped: \u201cPerhaps if you were here you could hear me.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a phone interview, Sep\u00falveda suggested that there was confusion in Monday\u2019s proceedings because of two different cases concerning Perez, though he could not discuss the details, citing attorney-client privilege.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to look at different strategies and on paper you can\u2019t tell,\u201d said the lawmaker, who was first elected to his State Senate seat in 2018. \u201cI\u2019ve been a practicing attorney for 35 years, and never once has a complaint been filed against me by a client.\u201d <\/p>\n
But a City Limits review of Sep\u00falveda\u2019s court cases found at least four instances, including Perez\u2019s case, in which he failed to appear in housing court. His absences rankled judges, frustrated opposing counsel, and sometimes cost his clients\u2014both residential and commercial tenants.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In March, Sep\u00falveda, who also chairs the Senate\u2019s Judiciary Committee, was the target of a strongly-worded decision from Hon. Jason Vendzules, who criticised the lawmaker when he failed to show up to defend a tenant struggling with cancer in another residential eviction case.<\/p>\n
Attorneys can ask the court to move court dates they cannot make. Sep\u00falveda has done so before, especially during the State Legislature\u2019s busy spring sessions from January to June.<\/p>\n
In the past, Sep\u00falveda has submitted affirmations of unavailability that delayed cases, citing his\u00a0 legislative responsibilities. But he didn\u2019t always send them in time, and has missed appearances with no evident conflict with the state\u2019s legislative calendar and no letter excusing himself.<\/p>\n
In the case with Judge Vendzules, Sep\u00falveda wrote to the court in February saying that he could not appear on Feb. 23 due to his obligations in Albany.<\/p>\n
But it appears that he forgot to follow up. He failed to inform the court he also could not attend a subsequent appearance on March 13, which he missed, despite the judge already rescheduling the appearance once. The legislature was not in session that day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Court chose that date after accessing the legislature\u2019s calendar to make sure that it was not in session that day. The court placed the appearance on its calendar (triggering an ecourts notification) and sent postcards to the parties informing them of the adjournment,\u201d Vendzules wrote in his decision. <\/p>\n
\u201cCounsel apparently did not check with the clerk after the February court appearance to see if his adjournment request was granted and claims not to have received the postcard sent. These circumstances do not provide a reasonable excuse for the default,\u201d the judge added. \u00a0<\/p>\n
In that case, Vedzules refused to reverse the default judgement\u2014an automatic decision when the respondent doesn\u2019t show\u2014that permitted the landlord to continue eviction proceedings, a decision that frustrated the senator.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis frustration was that he was representing a client who\u2019s unfortunately suffering from cancer,\u201d said Mike Nieves, a spokesperson for the senator\u2019s re-election campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Sep\u00falveda\"](\"https:\/\/citylimits.org\/wp-content\/plugins\/trx_addons\/components\/lazy-load\/images\/placeholder.png\")
Sep\u00falveda in the State Senate Chamber in 2021. (NYS Senate Media Services) <\/p>\n
Legal experts told City Limits that Vendzules was well within the law to reject Sep\u00falveda\u2019s attempts to resuscitate the case after his no-show.<\/p>\n
\u201cClearly it\u2019s preferable that he calls the court ahead of time, but sometimes his travels and his schedule doesn\u2019t allow for him to do so,\u201d said Nieves.<\/p>\n
Shortly after that decision criticizing Sep\u00falveda, Vendzules abruptly quit, the news site Hell Gate reported<\/a>. He was reportedly back on the bench this week, according to multiple sources.<\/p>\n Sep\u00falveda was appointed chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee in January of this year by Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. In a press release he issued after his appointment, the senator said he wanted to use the role to prioritize \u201cefficiency in judicial processes.\u201d<\/p>\n The committee has significant oversight over the state\u2019s court system, including judicial appointments, as well as review of all legislation relating to state and local courts.\u00a0<\/p>\n Good government groups subsequently questioned how Sep\u00falveda could practice in front of the same judges whose appointment he may influence. Though the senator doesn\u2019t have direct control over housing court appointments in New York City, sources suggested that his powerful position might give him more leeway than the average tenant defense lawyer.<\/p>\n His campaign spokesman disputed this. \u201cWhen he walks into a courtroom he answers an attorney, he doesn\u2019t act as the senator from the Bronx,\u201d said Nieves.<\/p>\n Not showing up in housing court significantly disadvantages a tenant, according to attorneys who spoke with City Limits. Most tenants don\u2019t have representation even when they do show up\u2014despite New York City\u2019s efforts to give every low-income tenant facing eviction a lawyer<\/a>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a treacherous road back from a default judgement. In order to save a tenant from eviction, attorneys need to show a good excuse for the default and prove that their case has merit\u2014then actually argue and win it.<\/p>\n Two housing attorneys\u2014granted anonymity to speak candidly about the powerful senator\u2014said that if they failed to show as frequently as Sep\u00falveda, they\u2019d expect to be fired or disciplined.<\/p>\n Failure to appear also wastes the already-overloaded court\u2019s time, according to people familiar with how the court system works.<\/p>\n Sep\u00falveda doesn\u2019t take on many eviction defense cases\u2014about nine in the past four years\u2014but in the past two years, he failed to show up four times in his five most recent cases.<\/p>\n That includes last year, when Sep\u00falveda failed to appear for a July hearing to defend the Bronx Optical Center from a commercial eviction. In court papers, he blamed the absence on his assistant putting the wrong date on the calendar.<\/p>\n The judge gave him another chance to appear on Aug. 18. Shortly thereafter, Judge Andrea Krugman denied his motion, ruling in favor of the landlord and writing that the \u201crespondent is denied as respondent failed to appear.\u201d<\/p>\n And in early 2024, Sep\u00falveda failed to appear for an inquest in Manhattan housing court, resulting in a default judgement against a rent stabilized tenant.\u00a0<\/p>\n His communications team did not immediately respond to detailed questions about missing appearances in prior court cases and how he is balancing his law practice with his legislative obligations.<\/p>\n On Monday, Perez wasn\u2019t expecting Sep\u00falveda to show up, but it\u2019s a good thing she went herself.<\/p>\n After Judge Dansecu scolded Sep\u00falveda, she gave him an hour to show up before recalling the case. Instead, Sep\u00falveda says he had someone appear on his behalf Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n That was Vicky Capone, a per-diem lawyer who said she usually represents landlords, who told City Limits she got a call from a colleague asking her for a favor. After lunch, she was arguing Perez\u2019s case before the judge.<\/p>\n Capone met Perez just minutes before the appearance and read the case documents on her phone.<\/p>\n Perez had been withholding rent from her landlord since March 2024 because of outstanding rodent and mold issues in her rent-stabilized apartment, she said. Withholding rent because of serious repair issues is legal in New York, and Perez also filed two lawsuits to compel her landlord to make the fixes. <\/p>\n \u201cI never had any issues with my tenancy until I started asking for repairs,\u201d said Perez.<\/p>\n The landlord\u2019s attorney, unwilling to settle and perhaps sensing his leverage, got the case sent to trial in May.<\/p>\n \u201cThe attorney of record actually has to appear and represent his client,\u201d warned Danescu.<\/p>\n To reach the reporter behind this story, contact [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>. To reach the editor, contact [email\u00a0protected]<\/a><\/p>\nBronx County Housing Court on Jan. 14, 2022. (Adi Talwar\/City Limits)<\/p>\n