NYCHA Sanctioned $1,000 for Altering Documents in Warrant Clerk's File
LVT Number: #30839
Landlord NYCHA sued to evict tenant. The court ruled for NYCHA and issued an eviction warrant. When landlord went to the court clerk's office to process the eviction warrant, the warrant was rejected for missing information. A month later, NYCHA's employee returned to the court clerk's office and the warrant clerk noticed that the notice of petition and petition in the court file had been altered to include the handwritten notation "all rooms" and "5th floor" that had been missing from the court caption on the papers.
The court then ordered a hearing to determine how the document was altered and whether to impose sanctions. NYCHA's Housing Assistant testified that an unnamed attorney at NYCHA's law department had explained to her that the warrant was rejected the first time because the description of the premises was missing and therefore an eviction couldn't take place. The NYCHA employee then made changes to the petition while in the courthouse. NYCHA therefore tampered with signed and notarized documents in the court file. Tampering with public records is a class D felony in the first degree. NYCHA could have sought permission from the court to amend the court papers. The court sanctioned NYCHA $1,000 payable to the Lawyer's Fund for Client Protection.
NYCHA v. Jackson: Index No. L&T805364/18, 2020 NY Slip Op 50589(U)(Civ. Ct. Bronx; 5/8/20; Sanchez, J)