Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in New York

Yes, once a settlement has been reached, written, and signed by all the parties, it should be filed in court and/or the landlord should drop the case. Sometimes this is too much trouble for landlords to go through, so they just dont show up the day of the case and the case is dismissed. However, I have seen landlords tell their tenants there is a settlement and then they continue the proceedings, with the tenant receiving a default judgment against them because they trusted the landlord's word. Either you see a "Filed" stamp from the county clerk on a copy of your written, signed settlement, or you go to court to ensure there is no default entered against you. If you go to court and the landlord has not dismissed the case, tell the judge what happened and request an adjourment so you can prepare a case. Or, do the settlement there. In my opinion, it is always better to show up on the court date, do the settlement there before the judge, and prevent a possible default judgment from showing up on an eviction report or credit report, rather than just trusting your landlord's word.