Judge Maria Ressos
Tenant Cruz moved to dismiss the holdover proceeding arguing landlord Newshan failed to properly serve the notice of petition and petition on the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). She also claimed Newshan accepted rent after the termination date. Newshan sought to recover the premises for his own personal use and claimed service on NYCHA was proper, attaching the affidavit of Service of process server Frederick. However, the court noted, under the Williams Consent Decree, NYCHA must be served with a copy of the notice of petition and petition when a Section 8 tenant was involved in a holdover proceeding. It noted that under Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law §735(2)(b), proof of service must be filed with the clerk of court within three days of mailing to complete service, yet noted the court file contained no such affidavit attached by Newshan. Also, NYCHA guidelines provide that proper notice must be served on it by overnight mail, yet the affidavit of service indicated notice was sent by first class mail, failing to comply with NYCHA’s requirements. Therefore, the court concluded Newshan failed to properly serve NYCHA to obtain jurisdiction over Cruz, granting dismissal of the proceeding.
