{"id":9053,"date":"2012-06-14T16:32:33","date_gmt":"2012-06-14T20:32:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=9053"},"modified":"2013-05-11T11:46:34","modified_gmt":"2013-05-11T15:46:34","slug":"how-to-file-a-complaint-in-nycs-housing-court-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=9053","title":{"rendered":"How to file a complaint in NYC’s Housing Court 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

I live in a co-op and am a shareholder, i.e., I “own” my apartment. Yet, there I was, filing a complaint in Housing Court for my “landlord’s” failure to adhere to the NYC Housing Maintenance Code. In my case, I filed against the board of directors of my co-op, not a landlord per se<\/em>. Because in a co-op it’s the board who is responsible for maintaining a building in a code compliant manner.<\/p>\n

I knew nothing about Housing Court until my lawyer suggested it, as a remedy I could use when my co-op’s board of directors failed to repair a damaged ceiling in my living room.<\/p>\n

The damage had been caused by a leak from the radiator of the apartment above me \u2014 an apartment owned and lived in by a board member. When, after the leak was fixed, I asked to have the damage repaired, the board did what it usually does: sent a contractor to evaluate the damage. After which I heard nothing further. As I later learned, the board had refused to approve the estimate. They’d pulled this nonsense on me before; this time I was not going to let them get away with it.<\/p>\n

One of the terrific things about Housing Court is that it’s layman\/plaintiff-friendly. That is, you can go through the entire process on your own, without a lawyer. In fact, as I learned throughout the stages of my complaint, Housing Court pretty much embraces you as a pro se<\/em> complainant, and leads you quite sweetly through the whole business.<\/p>\n

So along with Small Claims Court, it’s DIY.<\/p>\n

Your first step (it was one I passed over) might be to call 311, the city-wide help & problem line. Tell the operator your problem. They’ll switch you to an appropriate fact-gatherer who’ll take down your information, and give you a complaint number. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe.<\/p>\n

That can be the first step. But not if you have a long-standing complaint or if it’s a kind of emergency, or if you’ve already notified your landlord or your board of directors. Which I had done.<\/p>\n

So I didn’t call 311. I headed directly downtown to 111 Centre Street where Manhattan Housing Court is located. But now that I’m experienced (and successful) in this process, I advise you first<\/strong> to read through and maybe print out the entire Housing Maintenance Code to learn about potential violations.<\/p>\n

I’ve put the link to the code in my Sites of Interest.<\/strong> Here’s how to use it:<\/p>\n