The fee may be waived for tenants receiving public assistance or other low-income persons. Each participating member of a tenant association may add his or her name as one of the petitioners to the Order to Show Cause and complete a separate affidavit listing violations that affect them. Housing Court inspectors will inspect only those items listed on the affidavits. Ask the clerk to help you fill out these papers and, when completed, the clerk will tell you which room to go to for a judge to sign them. The judge who signs the Order to Show Cause specifies on the Order itself how service is to be made.
Some judges require service by certified mail, return- receipt requested.
Other judges require delivery of the papers to the landlord or managing agent to be made in person. If acknowledgment is refused, write a notarized statement for the court indicating that you attempted personal service that was refused by the landlord. The originals of the papers must be returned to the Court by the time indicated by the judge on the Order to Show Cause. Bring the return certified mail receipts, or an affidavit of service if required, as proof that service was completed. A court date will usually be scheduled about ten days from the day the papers are filed with the court.