Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has appointed former tenant-rights attorney Pierce Hand Seitz as a city judge, the mayor’s office announced Tuesday.
Before joining the Atlanta Municipal Court bench, Seitz co-directed the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation’s (AVLF) Safe and Stable Homes Project, which represents low-income tenants at no charge to contest illegal evictions and demand home repairs when landlords ignore or reject maintenance requests.
“These judges are one of the tips of the spear for how we hold landlords accountable,” Dickens’ top policy advisor, Courtney English, said in an interview. “This appointment demonstrates [the mayor’s] commitment to safe and stable living conditions for every resident in the city of Atlanta.”
Among the legal issues the Atlanta Municipal Court handles are code enforcement cases — determining, for example, whether property owners have neglected necessary upkeep and, if so, how to penalize them.
Seitz has a strong background in law and public service. He has served as a senior assistant district attorney for Fulton County, a housing staff attorney at AVLF, a business litigation associate at corporate law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, and an Atlanta Public Schools teacher. He holds a B.A. from Emory University and a law degree from Georgia State University.
“In these roles, he gained a wealth of bench trial experience in civil housing litigation, and he supervised and managed staff to provide free legal representation for hundreds of Atlantans who could not afford an attorney,” Dickens’ office said in a press release.
Seitz is a resident of Peoplestown and fluent in Spanish. He is also the first openly LGBTQ judge to serve on the Atlanta Municipal Court bench.
Michael Lucas, AVLF’s executive director, celebrated Seitz appointment. “Pierce has always shown a deep commitment to Atlanta families, especially those who just need someone to stand with them as they stand up for their rights,” he said in an email.
“Low-income tenants in particular can know that Judge Hand Sietz understands well the harm that substandard living conditions can do to students, families, and whole neighborhoods — and that he will ensure that housing code standards are enforced fully and thoughtfully in this city,” Lucas added.
Seitz could play an important role in the city’s new Safe and Secure Housing initiative to better identify negligent landlords and hold them accountable. The city launched the initiative a year ago to crack down on properties with a high number of code violations or violent crime. To support the effort, the city hired additional staff and increased funding for code enforcement, related litigation, and case management.
In code enforcement cases, Seitz could decide whether to condemn properties and order them demolished, as the city court’s chief judge, Christopher Portis, did with the notorious Forest Cove Apartments in late 2021.
Hi,My Names Carl Walker I’m a disabled Senior Citizen who’s now fighting Eviction, I’ve been displaced due to back pay of year’s from Pandimic and never Bounced back. Along with family of teen girls and Animals whom I’ve had for years. Need help