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Court date in 2 days

NYC Housing Court Practice/Procedures

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Court date in 2 days

Postby luckyD » Wed Jun 13, 2018 10:15 am

I have to make a decision today and will call the disability court line later today. Can anyone tell me if there is something you think I need to tell them or ways I need to consider to stop from going to court on Friday because I am out of town and ill. This Friday is the court case date.

To make things short(er): I was diagnosed with an acute chronic illness and had surgery, I am backed up on rent because of hospitalizations and major surgery. Previously I paid on time and stellar until health issues increased. I have a unique rental agreement where they list rent weekly though I pay monthly. I've been there for 2 years.

I noticed a few things about what they say for ny court defense, while reading online and it seems they did not do things correctly and I might be able to get it dismissed to buy time. What do you think? My excuse to buy time and get a dismissal:
Things I think they were supposed to do did not happen correctly.
I read online that it says this in reference to Ny rent court cases(copy paste and see my response to how this was violated after) ----

Eviction for Nonpayment of Rent
Before a landlord can evict a tenant for failing to pay rent, the landlord must give the tenant a three-day notice, or demand for rent. The notice must state that the tenant has three days to pay rent or move out of the rental unit.
....

My comment in reference to the above: I was given an email that stated that I needed to bring my rent current quote "Please bring your rent current by the end of March to avoid further action. " There was nothing that said there would be a 1) termination of the lease at all, there was no warning. 2)There was nothing that said that I had x days to bring it current or the lease would be terminated it just said to avoid further action.

Next
I was then sent a terminating tenancy letter via registered mail that says, " the party may terminate the agreement on 14 days' notice" however they did not give me 14 days. The date of termination was listed as May 27th 2018 and the date of the delivery of the item May 16th via messenger. I signed for it so they should have proof of that. It was also delivered to me out of state so I think they are using that as a delaying tactic of sorts because they are waiting till the last minute to give me the items. I informed them I was out of state as they were aware that I had to go there to recover from my chronic illness to stay with my family. So they did not give me warning of it nor did they give me an option to pay. It says I need to surrender the premises and nothing about restitution and payment remission.

Would this give me grounds for a dismissal while I prepare to try to get the one shot grant for emergency situations? (Emergency = health /emergency surgery/ chronic condition out of nowhere). What other grounds do I have on a weekly rental (I paid monthly but they made it weekly) which I've been at for almost 2 years?

One other quick note: I was served with papers to go to court 3 days before court date and it was delivered for me to sign as they knew I was out of state. Is that grounds to get some type of extension? Is it normal to have court cases so close that you have no time to prepare? There is a civil court house page that says :accommodations for disability. and a number. Would they be able to help. There is no way I can get back to NY by Friday.
Last edited by luckyD on Thu Jun 14, 2018 4:18 am, edited 4 times in total.
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Re: Court date in 2 days

Postby TenantNet » Wed Jun 13, 2018 11:02 am

It would take me three days to read this. How about reducing it by at least 60% and just leave in the essential facts.
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Re: Court date in 2 days

Postby luckyD » Thu Jun 14, 2018 4:05 am

TenantNet wrote:It would take me three days to read this. How about reducing it by at least 60% and just leave in the essential facts.


Done please read initial post. It was reduced by 50-60 % but is lengthy, Thanks. I have to decide today because I will have to stop this from going to court on Friday of this week.
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Re: Court date in 2 days

Postby TenantNet » Thu Jun 14, 2018 7:44 am

Thanks for making this shorter, but you still throw in a lot of unnecessary stuff. As for your unit, you don't say, but I'm guessing you are not RS (or the LL tells you that you are not RS). Unless you have some real clear evidence that you might qualify as RS, then that is something to look at later.

Rent billed weekly--is this a SRO? If so, then you probably should be RS. If a unit should be RS and the court petition filed by the LL says it isn't (or omits that), that is grounds to seek a dismissal.

You imply this is a non-pay case (why not just say you got a non-payment petition?). What kind of lease do you have (do you have a lease)?

Yes, a 3-day notice is a predicate notice before they can commence the proceeding. It must be served on the tenant in the same manner that a petition must be served ... by personal service, substituted service or nail & mail. See page 2 of this: http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/6jd/form ... _howto.pdf

After service the process server must file an affidavit of service with the court. You can examine the court file to see if they did that and if what the affidavit says is truthful. If not, you can make a motion for a "traverse" where the court will look at whether the service was proper.

The 3-day notice should not say you have 3 days to pay or move out ... because you have a right to a court hearing. You do not have to move out unless there is a court order. But if you default (don't show up) the court might issue an order.

An email does not substitute for a 3-day notice. Even if the email says all the right things, they still need to serve you properly. Add that to the grounds to move for dismissal. BTW. in non-pays, leases do not get terminated. They do get terminated with holdovers, a different sort of case.

Check your petition to see if it is a non-payment or a holdover. Depending on the case, you should put in an answer ASAP. Go to the clerk's office and put in an answer.

What sort of notice did you get saying you had to go to court?

I would contact the disability number.

As for court, generally someone needs to show up. If it's not you, can you get a friend or relative to show up and ask for an adjournment because you are out-of-town and ill? Give them something to show to the court that supports your condition. Generally first-time appearances are almost always adjourned. In 30 years I haven't seen one that hasn't been adjourned. Tell your friend to pick a date as far in advance as possible. And give them information as to when you will be back. Be in contact with them by cell phone.

The alternative is to get a lawyer, but that costs money unless you can get legal services to help.
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Re: Court date in 2 days

Postby luckyD » Fri Jun 15, 2018 2:12 am

I contacted the disability number and was referred to a coordinator for the NYC court division. He suggested that I file an affidavit for unavailability with the excuse of disability, illness, and out of town with a whole given limited time to appear explanation. So I filled out the forms. I am crossing my fingers and hoping the judge approves it. I will find out later on today and then either freak out or feel better that I have at least bought some time so that I can solve this debacle.
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Re: Court date in 2 days

Postby TenantNet » Fri Jun 15, 2018 3:32 am

Let's hope that works out. But I'm a bit confused. You're out of town now, right? So how did you get the forms and how did you submit them? Is there a URL where you can download, print-out and fill-out the forms? Is so, please post the URL here so we'll have it the next time this comes up.

And then how did you return the forms to the court? Did you upload them somewhere? Or email or fax them?

Did the forms have to be notarized from where you are? (if someone is sick, getting to a notary isn't always possible). Affidavits are sworn documents.

Will the court then call or email you with the results? Is your court date then automatically postponed (does the court notify the LL not to appear?) And do you get to pick a new date - how does that work?

Please let us know the details of how this works, and how it worked out for you.
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