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History
- Referred to judiciary
Full text
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Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S4062
Title of bill
An act to amend the New York city civil court act, in relation to commencement of a small claims action
Purpose or general idea of bill
The purpose of this bill is to ensure that commencement of an action in small claims court can only be done by certified mail with return receipt requested to the party complained against at their primary resi- dence.
Summary of specific provisions
This amendment will delete provisions in Section 1. Subdivision (a) of section 1803-A of the New York City civil court act, as amended by section 35 of part J of chapter 62 of the laws of 2003, relating to the means of delivering notice of small claims complaint.
Justification
Under current law, a small claims action can be commenced upon service of a first class mail notice. After a twenty on e day period, if the mailing is not returned as undeliverable, it is presumed that the person being claimed against has knowledge of the small claims court action that has been commenced. This provision does not adequately guarantee actual notice to the party complained against in small claims court. For example, a party could relocate and their mail may still be delivered to their previous address. Alternatively, the mail could erroneously be delivered to the wrong home and disregarded by the occupant. In addi- tion, unreliable mail management and delivery in large apartment build- ings might also impede the actual or timely distribution of mail, and undermine the conveyance of notice to a litigant. Without actual confir- mation that notice of the commencement of a small claims court action has been received, we cannot be certain that all parties involved in the proceeding are knowledgeable as to its existence. Absent such confirma- tion, legal proceedings could be commenced and default judgments obtained without a party to the action ever being given the opportunity to defend itself. That is patently unfair, and could subject individuals to unjust monetary liability and adverse credit implications. This bill will ensure that all parties to a small claims court action are given actual notice.
Prior legislative history
S.685 of 2011 01/05/11 Referred to Judiciary 01/09/13 REFERRED TO JUDICIARY 01/08/14 REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
Fiscal implications for state & local governments
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.