Housing Rights Initiative v. Compass, Inc.
- Sidney Stein
- 1:21-cv-02221
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Housing Rights Initiative v. Compass, Inc., Judge Moses declined to act on Columbus’s filings, paused action for 30 days, and required counsel.
Columbus NY Real Estate Inc. was affected directly: the court would not act on filings submitted for it by its nonlawyer principal, and the company was given until October 23, 2023, to appear through licensed counsel. The plaintiffs were ordered to take no further action against Columbus during that period.
What happened
Housing Rights Initiative sued Compass, Inc. and others. Columbus NY Real Estate Inc. had received a certificate of default, and its principal, Frederico Ziotto, filed papers seeking to cancel the default, dismiss the case, submit an answer, and represent the company without a lawyer. He said the lawsuit was sent to an incorrect address.
The court explained that Columbus was served through New York’s Secretary of State at the address the company had on file. Because Ziotto is not a licensed attorney, he could not represent Columbus or file papers for it. The court therefore said it could not act on the filings he submitted for the company.
Judge Moses ordered the plaintiffs to take no further action against Columbus until October 23, 2023. She gave Columbus until that date to appear through a licensed lawyer and defend the case, and directed the Clerk to close the specified motions.
The detailed version
- Housing Rights Initiative v. Compass, Inc. · No. 1:21-cv-02221
- Sidney Stein
- Sept. 22, 2023
Background
The court reviewed filings submitted on behalf of Columbus NY Real Estate Inc. by its principal, Frederico Ziotto: a motion to cancel the certificate of default (Dkt. 688), an answer (Dkt. 689), a motion to dismiss based on an allegedly wrong service address (Dkt. 691), and a motion for permission to proceed without a lawyer (Dkt. 682). The record stated that Columbus was served through the New York Secretary of State on April 19, 2021, and that a certificate of default was issued on March 21, 2022.
Ziotto asserted that the summons and complaint had been sent to an incorrect address on West 57th Street rather than Columbus’s current address on West 85th Street. The court explained that service through the Secretary of State sends the papers to the address that the corporation has on file with the New York Department of State. The court found that the agency’s online database listed 130 West 57th Street, Suite 14A, as Columbus’s only address on file and stated that Columbus should update that address if it had moved.
Representation of the Corporation
The court held that Ziotto, as a nonlawyer, could not appear, sign pleadings, or otherwise defend the action for Columbus. A corporation must appear through licensed counsel, and the court stated that it had no discretion to make an exception. As a result, the court could not act on the motions Ziotto had attempted to file for Columbus.
Orders
The court stated that Ziotto could contact the plaintiffs’ attorneys and ask them to voluntarily withdraw the certificate of default and give Columbus more time to respond. To facilitate that possibility, the court ordered the plaintiffs to take no further action against Columbus for 30 days, until October 23, 2023. It further ordered that Columbus must appear through counsel by October 23, 2023, if it wished to defend itself, including by moving to set aside the default if necessary and responding to the amended complaint.
The Clerk was directed to close the motions at Dkts. 688, 691, and 692 and mail the order to Columbus at the address supplied by Ziotto. The opinion does not state a merits ruling on Columbus’s proposed dismissal or other defenses.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.