So long for our landlord to take us to court?

[Nesisjohn]

Why is it taking so long for our landlord to take us to court? At the end of April 2016 our landlord tricked my mother and I into singing a vacancy lease instead of a signing a renewal. The landlord as of May 2016 was billing us for the vacancy lease instead of the of the current lease which expire on the 31st of August. We filed a rent over charge complaint with DHCR and we filed a landlord failure to provide a renewal form also with DHCR it has been over a month since we received the 3 day notice. What is going on, why is it taking so long for the landlord to take us to court ?

[TenantNet]

Who knows why LLs delay. In some situations they think that if you delay, you won't have the money they're demanding. So make sure that any disputed amounts are kept safe in escrow. Do not spend the money. Make sure you have docket numbers for the cases you filed with DHCR. It used to be only about 2 weeks to get a docket after you filed a complaint, but these days with the Cuomo downsizing of DHCR, it can take 6-8 weeks. If you don't have dockets, then have copies of what you filed with DHCR and the cert. mail receipt to DHCR - or the cert. of mailing.

There's no rule that says the LL must commence the case within X days of sending the 3-day notice. Some LLs wait up to a year, but if it's too long then you can ask the court that a new 3-day notice is required. Or it could be that he won't file at all.

[Nesisjohn]

Thank-you for what you do.