Scores of public housing residents were lined up outside and inside federal court Wednesday morning, holding letters requesting their presence.

"I am just here to try to fight for justice," one woman said.

Inside the courthouse, a highly unusual hearing was happening. A federal judge had an open call for New York City public housing residents to come to court and list their grievances.

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On each phone, evidence of the conditions they live in every day.

"I am living with mold, a lot of mold in my apartment, first of all," one public housing resident said. "Holes in my walls."

This is all part of two settlement agreements forcing the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) to address the volumes of health and public safety concerns in public housing.

If approved by the judge, one of those agreements would force the city to fork over $2 billion for repairs and install an independent monitor to oversee the authority.

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Before he acts, the judge wanted to hear from the residents himself.

"I've got a ceiling in my bathroom that's made out of wood. It's been like that forever. They haven't fixed it," Amsterdam Houses Resident Lourdes Camacho said. "My apartment is falling apart."

They told stories of toxic mold creeping along their walls, paint peeling, and ceilings caving in.

"And what I told him was how appalling this is and how disgraceful New York City housing Authority is, and that they cannot be trusted for anything," Frederick Douglass Houses resident Carmen Quinones said.

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"A mildew problem and a mold problem that is out of this world that is now going to my clothes," Justice Sonia Sotomayor Houses resident Darlene Peterson said. "I can't live there. I sleep in my living room."

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They all pleaded for help, some urging the judge to approve the settlement. Others questioned whether it would be enough.

"The way the settlement is set up as it is, the residents don't have any voice," said Daniel Barber of the Citywide Council of Presidents. "We are just a suggestion."

The judge called these cases heartbreaking and said he expects NYCHA to look into them immediately. In fact, he said he would order them to do so in at least one case.