This article reviews the role and impact of urban housing courts. It analyzes the findings of a detailed empirical study of Cleveland's housing court, which began operations in April 1980, and discusses the relationship of this court to code enforcement and resolution of landlord-tenant disputes. The court's role in innovative remedies, especially the appointment of receivers for abandoned housing, is also discussed and reforms are suggested. The article concludes with an overall assessment of the potential of housing courts to deal effectively with urban housing issues.