Landlord Served Tenants in Accordance with Court Order

Landlord City of New York sued to evict ten occupants of building, claiming that they were either squatters or licensees. Occupants claimed that neither the notice to quit nor the notice of petition and petition were served in accordance with Real Property Actions & Proceedings Law (RPAPL) section 735. The court noted that this was correct. But landlord had gotten court permission to use an alternate method of service. This was permitted by law under Civil Practice Law and Rules section 308(5). The building was tightly secured because it was supposed to be unoccupied. Several city employees testified about how difficult it was to get into the building. Instead of using the traditional method of attempting personal service, the court allowed landlord to post two copies of the 10-day notice to quit for each of the ten occupants on each of the three building entries, and to slip two additional copies through the mail slot in the front entrance door. After ten days, landlord was directed to serve the notice of petition and petition in the same manner. Each of the notices also listed the specific apartment numbers sought to be recovered.

City of New York v. Various Named Occupants: NYLJ, p. 24, col. 4 (12/22/93) (Civ. Ct. NY; Malatzky, J)