Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in New York

I live in Nassau County, NY. Our Landlord has filed a case for back rent owed. Their accounting is incorrect and I tried to straighten it out, but it ended up in court. That case will be thrown out.

My question is as follows. I have damages for failure to maintain the apartment and live up to the lease. I know I can start a separate case, and an Order to Show Cause is not the right type of filing, but how can I counter-sue the landlord for damages as part of this case? What is the correct type of filing and do I do it at the clerks office or do I have to wait for the next court date? I would rather handle it now before our next court date and hopefully be able to negotiate with the landlord once they see I am serious about this issue. Thank you.


Asked on 1/07/14, 7:36 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Kevin Connolly Kevin J. Connolly

You say the case "will be" thrown out. So I infer that it is still pending. The filing you would make would be a counterclaim. Since yoy did not file the counterclaim with your answer, this can become tricky. Most likely, you need to file a motion for permission to amend your answer in order to add a counterclaim. Feel free to call me to discuss how I can help you: you're in a technical area of the law and you could hurt your case. My charges are affordable (really and truly, we're talking about $250 or so from you...any substantial fees, I would expect to collect from the landlord. 516-242-1453. And I don't charge for travel time to the courthouses in Nassau County since they are close and I am appearing in Nassau quite often in any event.

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Answered on 1/07/14, 12:46 pm


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