Silverstein v. Diaz

In Silverstein v. Diaz (124 Misc. 2d 597 [Civil Ct, Queens County1984]) an Order to Show Cause mailed to the respondent landlord was returned as undeliverable. The tenant testified that he had gone to the landlord's address and observed that there were no mailboxes or other receptacles for mail. The court found that the landlord had been properly served, noting: "A landlord engaged in the business of providing facilities, space and services to tenants in return for rent cannot physically shield or isolate himself from the mandate of this court or any other court for that matter in order to escape the consequences of his actions or to defeat jurisdiction by either refusing to accept service by mail or preventing postal authorities, by acts of omission or commission on his part, from accomplishing their mail deliveries. ( Bossuk v. Steinberg, 88 A.D.2d 358, 453 N.Y.S.2d 687, affd 58 N.Y.2d 916, 447 N.E.2d 56, 460 N.Y.S.2d 509 ) Nor may he superimpose upon the requirements of statute his own additional requirements as a prerequisite to obtaining jurisdiction over his person."