My Landlord is taking me to Housing Court. Help!

Yes, of course something’s missing. Lots of information is missing, including how many total units in the building OP’s living in. Which is why OP’s best advice will come from Housing Court help desk and not from this forum. BTW, you’re kidding yourself and others if you think a missing C of O gives a LL unrestricted liberty in building use, and is irrelevant in housing court.

cupolacoffee

in Lawyers and legal service 11 years and 11 months ago

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sophia29 | 11 years and 11 months ago

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My landlord is taking me to housing court on the basis I haven’t paid rent, which is not true and I have bank statements and checks to prove this. He also is charging me an additional $800 and will not explain the source. I have lived in this apartment for 3 years and he has done no repair work: no fire alarms, broken locks, broken window in the living room that I had to physically hold down during Hurricane Irene, and many more, including no windows in my bedroom. Also, the building does not have a Certificate of Occupancy, which I just discovered is required by NY law. The landlord has several lawsuits against him at the moment (I’ve been doing background work on him), all similar to my case. I have a court hearing next week and will bring bank statements, photos of the apartment, and a print out of the NY C.O. page that shows one doesn’t exist for this apartment. What else should I bring, what should I expect in court, and who are good cheap lawyers to contact? Thank you!

ejalbk | 11 years and 11 months ago

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Not all legitimate multiple dwellings have or are required to have C of Os so don’t assume that you’ve hit housing court bingo because there is no C of O. BTW, have you tried simply talking to the landlord?  As for court, if you have cancelled checks paid to the landlord, bring copies of the front and back of those to court, bring your lease if you have one. Bring the ad for the apartment if you have it. Bring photos of the apartment. Bring photo ID. Although it doesn’t sound like a simple mistake on the landlord’s part, if it is, don’t turn the case into a war unless you’re willing to make a career out of fighting your landlord. Finally, an individual tenant does not need an attorney in housing court. If the story is as straight forward as you’re implying it is (i.e. you’re the tenant, not a subtenant, you have a lease, you’ve paid your rent to the individual or entity named in the lease in a timely manner, you’re not violating the terms of your lease etc etc, you should be able to handle it without an attorney but you can get a legal-aid attorney if you qualify. The fact that your landlord is involved in other legal actions will have little to no bearing on your case, so don’t assume if you point that out to the judge that it will change anything. Finally, tenants have a lot of protection in NYC and in housing court.

cupolacoffee | 11 years and 11 months ago

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Your best advice will come from visiting, IN PERSON, the free information desk at Brooklyn Housing Court: 141 Livingston Street, Second Floor Clerk’s Office – Room 202, Brooklyn NY, 11201
Monday through Thursday, 9am-4:30pm (may be closed between 1-2pm), Friday 9am to 1pm
You can also read this link: http://cwtfhc.org/for-tenants/

pierredetaille | 11 years and 11 months ago

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Something seems missing in the info you are providing. The Landlord just decided to take you to court for not paying rent but you have proof to the contrary? Are you holding a lease? Are you up to date on rent? If the answer to all these questions is yes then you need not worry the judge will quickly side with you and throw the case out. However remember leaving there for 3 years doesn’t mean you are entiltled to keep staying there if you don’t have a lease agreement. The C of O issue is really irrelevant in a lot of old buildings. Our advise will be to try speaking to the landlord in person and try resolving things amicably….something tells us he has the leverage which is why he is taking you to Housing Court and not the other way around. Good luck!