The New York Times
Real Estate Q&A
229 W. 43rd St.
New York, NY 10036
December 31, 1995
Q.: After a 10-year review of a complaint I submitted to the State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) in 1985, I finally received a judgment in my favor on May 25, 1995. The complaint concerned an apartment that was "renovated" by a landlord, so that he could increase the rent. I demonstrated that the rent increase was unjustified. The DHCR found I was owed a refund of $12,171.06.
I requested a copy of the certified order from the division, so I might proceed with the collection of the refund. As of Aug. 25, 1995, the division had no record of a Petition for Administrative Review filed by the owner of the property. What is my next step? Should I initiate court proceedings? Do I need to hire a lawyer?
Spencer Sullivan Fontenay, Manhattan.
A.: Sam Himmelstein, a Manhattan lawyer who specializes in landlord-tenant law, said that the first thing to do is to go to the division's offices in person and request a copy of the order and a certification that the order has been entered and that no appeal of the decision has been filed. (Petitions for Administrative Review of district rent office decisions must be filed within 35 days.)
"Once the order and certification have been obtained," Mr. Himmelstein said, "the order can be taken to the County Clerk's office and docketed the same way a judgment from a court would be docketed. So there's no need to actually bring a lawsuit. The docketed judgment can then be taken to a sheriff who can execute or collect on the judgment. The sheriff, however, can only seize assets he knows about and does not have to conduct an investigation to locate assets. It is at that point that the services of a lawyer could be helpful."