Court Papers Delivered to Tenant's Housekeeper

Landlord sued to evict tenant for nonpayment of rent. Tenant claimed improper delivery of the court papers. The court ruled against tenant. Tenant appealed and lost. Landlord's process server testified that he delivered the papers to tenant's housekeeper. A minor error in the description of the housekeeper didn't warrant a finding of improper delivery. Landlord also showed that another copy of the papers was mailed to tenant after delivery was made to the housekeeper. And although the mail was addressed to the wrong ZIP code, this wasn't a fatal defect because the street address and city were properly set forth.

Rochdale Holding Corp. v. Neuendorf: NYLJ, 3/25/04, p. 30, col. 1 (App. T. 1 Dept.; Suarez, PJ, McCooe, Gangel-Jacob, JJ)