The Tenants Advocacy Program (TAP) is a pro bono initiative by Cornell attorneys, law students, and other volunteers based in Ithaca, NY to provide free brief legal advice to all residential (non-commercial) tenants in upstate New York. We are also now able to provide free court representation to tenants in the following counties: Tompkins, Tioga, Steuben, Schuyler, Chemung, Monroe, and Allegany.

If you are an Ithaca tenant in a legal emergency, please call LawNY first at (607) 273-3667.

If you are seeking assistance from TAP, please fill out the application below. Response time will vary based on the urgency of the case. For assistance in completing our intake form below, please call our hotline at (607) 301-1560 to speak with a volunteer or email tenantslegalhotline@gmail.com. If a volunteer is not available, please leave a message and we will get back to you shortly.

Our hotline accepts voicemails 24/7. Volunteers answer and return calls every day at the following times: Mondays at 8pm-9pm, Tuesdays at 7pm-8pm, Wednesdays at 4pm-5pm, Thursdays at 1:30pm-2:30pm and 8pm-9pm, Fridays at 2pm-3pm, Saturdays at 12pm-1pm, and Sundays at 11am-12pm and 5pm—6pm.

Please do NOT submit duplicate applications! Submitting repeated applications will not expedite your status. Our team responds to applications in the order they were received, with an exception for urgent cases that require priority. If you already submitted an application, please send any new updates on your issue to tenantsadvocacy@cornell.edu.

To add attachments to your application, please click here.