Landlord Never Served Tenant with Petition

Landlord sued to evict tenant for creating a nuisance. Landlord later asked the court for permission to amend its notice of petition. Tenant, in turn, asked the court to dismiss the case. Landlord had sent its court papers to the court via FedEx but didn't receive anything back from the court. So, landlord didn't serve any copy of its court papers on tenant. The CEEFPA, enacted in late December 2020, stayed all pending eviction proceedings for 60 days and stayed until May 1 cases where tenants were adversely affected by COVID-19. There was an exception to the stay if a tenant persistently and unreasonably engaged in behavior substantially infringing on other tenants' use and enjoyment.

The court ruled for tenant and dismissed the case. Landlord admitted that it failed to serve a copy of the petition on tenant, in violation of Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law Section 733(1). Also, the termination notice appeared to be defective, so the case would have to be dismissed even if landlord was allowed to amend its notice of petition.

Pimor Assocs. v. Delvalle: Index No. 056524/20, NYLJ No. 1617725462 (Civ. Ct. Queens; 3/31/21; Ressos, J)