Housing courts are special courts used by many large cities to deal with disputes between landlords and tenants, cases involving housing code violations, evictions, and similar housing-related cases. Usually, these courts have special, abbreviated procedures. Most U.S. courts are specialized, meaning they handle specific areas of law or have limited powers. Specialized courts now handle the majority of cases in the U.S. and the vast majority of cases within each state jurisdiction.
Some examples of housing courts can be found in Massachusetts and Maryland.
[Last updated in January of 2023 by the Wex Definitions Team]