Landlord Must Submit Non-Military Affidavit

Landlord sued to evict tenant. Landlord asked the court for a waiver of its obligation to submit a non-military affidavit before getting a default judgment and an eviction warrant. Landlord's managing agent submitted a sworn statement that he'd gone to tenant's apartment five times and was unable to find tenant to ask if tenant was in a military service. The court ruled against landlord. Federal and New York law require that, before entering a default judgment, landlord must either file an affidavit setting forth facts showing that tenant isn't in a military service, or submit an affidavit showing that, after investigation, landlord can't determine whether tenant is in a military service. In this case, landlord didn't sufficiently investigate tenant's military status.

L&F Realty Co. v. Kazama: NYLJ, p. 31, col. 1 (11/26/97) (Civ. Ct. NY; Ling-Cohan, J)