TenantNet wrote:See the attached PDF. You can make a formal motion (where the LL would be able to submit papers in opposition), but we believe you can also make an "application" to the court on the next appearance. If it were my case, I would not tell the LL or LL's attorney before you make the motion. As our expert states, it really depends on which Housing Court judge you get.
You can also ask the court attorney before you see the judge. His or her reaction to the issue might give you some idea how the judge might react.
We asked an expert:LL brings non-pay against tenant, but building is not registered with HPD. We suggest Tenant make a motion to dismiss for lack of registration. But LL discovers discovers it and registers building.
Is lack of registration a jurisdictional defect and can it be corrected?
The answer:
You are correct. If Petitioner makes a motion to amend the petition, Tenant should cross-move to dismiss citing this case. If Petitioner has not made a motion Tenant can make a motion to dismiss citing this case.
Because it is an old NYLJ case, a copy of it should be attached as an exhibit. And, back in 1994 Judges were usually stricter about what can be allowed to justify amending a petition. So, this lower court case might be ignored by today's Housing Court judges. But tenant should be able to rely on it. If nothing else the attached case will allow the tenant to be able to make a good faith motion.
Thank You. I will read it very carefully.
Even if the House was not registered with HPD during this time period, the LL can demand rent (and late fee) for that time period, right?
His registration was INVALID between September 1 2015 and November 14 2016.
Apparently I led him to the web site. The Court Attorney gave us the Web Site Address when the LL asked her where to look up the Inspector's report.
There is a flier in the foyer. The Web address was on that flier also, but I never paid attention to it before. Apparently he did not either.
The LL is a Company, the LandLord, the Owner of the CoOp house.
The person is the Managing Agent, Main (if not only) Shareholder and he is also the Attorney of the Company. His wife is an attorney also, but neither of them practiced. He lives on the first floor with his family, staring at the entrance door quite often with his computer camera, to see who comes, who goes.
I could ask for a hearing that the Court Documents were not served correctly (that was also noted by the Court Clerk on the Answer Form). They foolishly even took the Certified Mail sent to me by their own Process Server for this case (that company only shows their address, not any company name as Sender on the envelope).
A small UPS package, which had a small thermometer was also handed over to "resident", not me.
I do not have the name of the "resident" who accepts my mail without me asking, either from UPS or USPS, but they are the only ones living on that floor, the other apartment, a studio, is empty, offered for rental. I could ask for a more detailed investigation both from UPS and USPS, but perhaps I will just ask the Judge to ask him whether they are taking my mail from the delivery people! I do not think anybody else from any of the other four apartments would accept any of my mail in the foyer, although we are on superficial speaking terms. Nobody is authorized to sign for me.
For the moment it amuses me that they handle my mail, but I will definitely bring this up to the Court Attorney or the Judge, even more so because I expect checks from retirement funds. Direct deposit would have been more complicated, the fund managers said.
Both the Court Attorney and the Judge appeared to be sympathetic to tenants but the fact is that he owns the house and I lived in his apartment for years paying the high rent, and now for months not paying at all.
This person lucked out when he was in his early thirties. He managed to acquire this house and now he lives off from renting it out to various people, with fairly high turnover it seems. I doubt that he ever had this many apartments empty at one time. This is why I will try to argue that if market rate rent could go up, it could also come down ... yet he kept increasing my rent relentlessly.