Eviction proceeding reminder postcard sent to wrong address

[jimmyten]

My neighbor is getting evicted for non-payment. She lives in the same building with a different apartment number. I don't know her and didn't know she was getting evicted. Apparently she has been served papers.

However, this Saturday, I received three postcards in the mail with MY apartment number from the housing court. One postcard had my neighbor's name, one had John Doe, the other Jane Doe. This appears to be a filing/typing error regarding the apartment number.

The card says, "Papers have been sent to you and filed in court asking this court to evict you from your residence. You must appear in court and file an answer to the landlord's claim. If you have not received papers, go to the housing part of the civil court immediately and bring this card with you. If you do not appear in court, you may be evicted. You also may wish to contact an attorney."

No papers were ever filed at my apartment.

I went down to the court today and explained to them what happened. The clerk looked up the index no. that was on the card. He informed me that papers had been filed with my neighbors apartment number, not mine. That is good news. He also told me the postcards, even though sent with the housing court's return address were actually mailed from the landlord as a reminder. He would not provide any written statement to me regarding this since I am not my neighbor, and there isn't a problem in the court's system with this case. He actually told me I could probably just slip the post cards under my neighbor's door and forget about it.

I called my landlord's office and spoke to the legal department. I explained the mix up in apartment numbers. They thanked me for calling, told me not to worry about it and to slip the postcards under my neighbor's door. I asked her for a letter simply stating that I was not a party in this matter just as a precaution. She told me it was not necessary and hung up on me.

I am rent stablized and the landlord's office is generally not very helpful towards me. This is probably just an oversight, but any advice is helpful. Should I contact an attorney? Or should I wait and see?

Thank You

[TenantNet]

The John/Jane Doe cards are normal, possibly required.

The way to check where the error is - is to check with the papers filed with the court and see if what the LL filed has the error.

It could possibly be grounds for dismissal of the case, but I would think the court would take into consideration if the tenant was actually served or not, or if the error was by the clerk of the Housing Court. In other words, it might be everything, but it might mean nothing.

Of course make absolutely sure the card does not refer to papers filed against YOU!

And please, make sure you tell the tenant about this, and give her the cards.