LL's lawyer unwilling to fulfill supoena info

[epennyj]

Owner occupancy case:We are 1 week away from Civil "trail by jury" case.We needed copy of an apt's (in our bldg) renewal rent stab lease to prove landlord was still operating as a coporation after he changed his name to an individual owner.After our lawyer sent a subpoena to the LL lawyer (Belkin,Wenig &Goldman)they now say they cannot find that apt's lease and maybe they didn't even write one.
QUESTION: Is there recourse? Should we postpone?

[lofter1]

The law firm of BBW&G will do anything not to comply with what you are legally entitled to. Have been in court with them repping my LL many times and lawyers from that firm will lie to the judge's face; often claiming that documents that are known to exist cannot be found or they have no knowledge of said documents. You must play hard when facing them. Try what you can to make certain that the judge orders them to produce the documents you need.
Wish I could offer some positive news but with BBW&G you're dealing with the biggest rats in the gardage pit -- hopefully the truth will out if you press for it.
Good luck -- and get ready for a long nasty fight.

[Cranky Tenant]

I'd imagine there's be all sorts of other paperwork involved in transfering ownership of a building from a corporation to an individuaol.

Does this individual landlord hold the deed? Who was the rent paid to? You might want to look back over previous rent checks and see if they were deposited into the same account.

[Lilly]

try ACRIS to find out who or what owns the building, if title was transferred from corp to personal ownership.

[Imp]

Is ACRIS a search engine? Could a person access it at a public law library? Could I use it to find out what other buildings a particular LL owns?

[TenantNet]

Acris is at:
http://a836-acris.nyc.gov/Scripts/Coverpage.dll/index

It's the NYC Dof database. First find the block & lot number of the parcel. Then with that you can call up all sorts of goodies. You can print out copies of original documents, or better, print to PDF. Don't try save, just print to PDF.

[lada dalton]

My one warning, take it or leave it: be careful how fiercely you fight in Housing Court. The opposing attorneys, like the ones you mention, are quick to resort to claiming that the other party (you) is not fully understanding the procedure, issues and, most likely, needs Adult Protective Services (APS) to help you to, get this, you preserve your rights. Once you are deemed "incapacitated," which, by the way, the judges are only too happy to oblige the LL's attorneys by declaring you so, APS takes over and then the behind-the-scenes arrangements ensue with your rights being the very last to be of concern to anyone there in the backroom. My advice, if you're planning on playing it tough in the court room, you had better have a lawyer with you, as awful as those are as well. It's a case of which of the two evils is better. Keep on top of your lawyer really, really, really close, but never go to Housing Court thinking that you pro se are going to show those landlord attorneys. See website: [URL=JUDICIAL MISCONDUCT] or search, if that URL is not accessible, Brigitte Picart Housing Court.