Case Type

Holdover-Lease Expiration

Housing Type

Other

Court

Civil Court of the City of New York

County

Kings County (Brooklyn)

L&T / Index / Case / Docket / Clerk's Number

311423-24

Petitioner

489 MM REALTY LLC

Respondent

ALBERT ZELAYA, LIZA ZELAYA, ALBERT ZELAYA JR., JOHN DOE and JANE DOE

Judge

Jimenez, Sergio

Decision/Order Date

2025-07-30

Posture

Pre-answer Motion by Tenant

Disposition

Case Dismissed/discontinued

Winner

Tenant Substantially Won

Synopsis

The court dismissed the landlord's holdover petition because the predicate notice was improperly served. The affidavit of service stated it was personally served on "Albert Zelaya," but the notice was actually delivered to "Albert Zelaya Jr." Citing the **strict compliance** standard for personal service, the court found the name discrepancy was a fatal defect. The landlord's cross-motion to amend the affidavit was denied because it was not supported by an affidavit from someone with personal knowledge, nor did the landlord demonstrate that the respondent had attempted to evade service.

Keywords

Petition dismissed for improper service of predicate notice by personal service based on incorrect rendering of name in Affidavit of Service; Strict compliance standard for personal service; Amendment of Affidavit of Service must be based on an affidavit of someone with personal knowledge

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