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Disclaimer
SOURCE: The information provided by this tool is based on the Tenants’ Rights Guide, which was last verified in February 2025 by faculty and staff at Cornell Law School's Tenants Advocacy Program.
JURISDICTION: The information provided by this tool only applies to residential (non-commercial) tenants in upstate New York-- NOT New York City or Long Island.
NOT A LAWYER: The responses on this page are not a lawyer advising you. It is information generated via artificial intelligence (AI) for informational purposes only. This does not create an attorney-client relationship.
LIMITS OF AI: Each individual response may not be reviewed by an attorney. AI responses may be wrong and/or incomplete. You should independently verify all responses. Use at your own risk.
PRIVACY: Do not input confidential or personal information. Click here to view our privacy policy.
GET HELP: For advice specific to your situation, contact a lawyer. This is not an intake form. Click here to complete our intake form. If you are an Ithaca tenant in a legal emergency, call LawNY at (607) 273-3667.
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⚠️ Important Notice for Tenants
If you have not done so already, and you are facing a legal emergency, please contact Legal Assistance of Western New York (LawNY) at (607) 273-3667 or your local legal aid provider immediately.
If your case does not involve eviction or an upcoming court appearance, we recommend reading our Tenants' Rights Guide or clicking “Ask Teny” in the bottom-right corner. From these resources, you can obtain legal information that may be relevant to your situation.
The Cornell Law School Tenants Advocacy Program is currently experiencing very high demand. We have a long waitlist of individuals seeking advice and we are prioritizing urgent cases, such as those involving eviction cases in court or other scheduled court appearances (e.g., case referrals from LawNY). If your case is not urgent, please be aware that you may not hear from our Program until October, when we will reevaluate our capacity.
Submitting an intake form does not guarantee assistance, and intakes are reviewed in the order received with an exception for urgent cases mentioned above. Please do not submit duplicate intakes; this does not expedite review of your case.
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.
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.