Landlord Misrepresented Its Corporate Status

Landlord sued to evict tenant. The court ruled for landlord based on tenant’s failure to appear in court. Tenant later asked the court to reopen the case. Tenant now had an attorney and claimed that he was given incorrect information about the court date. Tenant also argued that landlord wasn’t a proper party to the proceeding. The court ruled for tenant and dismissed the case. Landlord, named in the court papers as Freewave Media, appeared in court by an individual who claimed he personally was the landlord and did business as Freewave Media. He also stated in court that Freewave Media wasn’t a corporation. But tenant showed that the building deed was in the name of Freewave Media Inc., that landlord had previously sued to evict tenant under the corporate name, and that in an unrelated court case, landlord had stated that the deed to Freewave Media Inc. was the “true deed” to the building. Landlord therefore misrepresented the type of entity that owned the building. In addition, a corporation must appear in a court action by an attorney, which landlord failed to do.

Freewave Media v. Smith: NYLJ, 5/21/10, p. 28, col. 1 (Dist. Ct. Nassau; Fairgrieve, J)