Source: https://www.alblawfirm.com/articles/environmental-control-board/
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 19:11:17+00:00

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When coauthor of this article (Bailey) learned how to conduct real estate trials as a young lawyer in Supreme and Civil Courts, the Environmental Control Board (ECB) was where he spread his wings as a trial attorney. While other practitioners joked that the place was a kangaroo court where non-lawyers out-numbered lawyers 50 to 1, Bailey took each trial very seriously and relished the ability to go to trial at almost every hearing appearance. He saw three desks—one for the judge and another each for him and the prosecutor and remembered that it had the core of any court room albeit in a very small room (ranging from 10’x10′ to 12’x12′) that could barely fit the three attorneys, much less the witnesses.
The construction boom increased the activity and value of New York City real estate throughout the city.
The adoption of various new regulations increased fines and penalties and repeat offenders saw fines double or triple.
The new rules included the equivalent of a crime scene investigation task force to go after serial offenders.
The invention of 311 made the ability to report building violations a phone call away.
For restaurants, a new grading system made health violation grades posted on all restaurant front windows.
Violations hit the Internet in real time to allow the public to discover more about where they lived and worked and to make decisions based on these facts.
The fervent building and rebuilding of city buildings required the removal of violations before a certificate of occupancy could be obtained.
The ECB became the central hearings administrative tribunal for 13 administrative agencies.1 While it has the jurisdiction to issue orders for compliance with the law, lax service of process and stiff default penalties assure it well serves its unspoken task of raising hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties to funnel to the city. This article will review the mission of the ECB, an analysis of the relevant governing laws, and the recent Appellate Division and lower court cases calling for the ECB to follow the same methods of service of process as in ordinary judicial proceedings.
48 RCNY §3-82 (§3-82) governs vacating a default before the ECB. Unless made in bad faith, vacatur of the default is automatic within 45 days after the original hearing date, but no vacatur lies after one year after the finding out about the NOV. Within that one-year period, improper service of the NOV is only a ground for vacating the default if accompanied by non-receipt of the NOV.
Among the agencies issuing ECB adjudicated NOV’s are: Department of Buildings, Department of Environmental Protection, Fire Department, Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, Landmarks Preservation Commission, Department of Parks & Recreation, Police Department, Department of Sanitation, and Department of Transportation. Some of these agencies have their own methods for service of process in their enabling laws. §1049-a dictates methods of service, varying from agency to agency. All issuing agencies may use service methods under CPLR Article 3 (normal service of process in civil proceedings) and BCL Article 3 (including the infamous service on the Secretary of State for business entities).
In Wilner v. Beddoe,15 the First Department unmasked the ECB’s practice of simply taking the affidavits of service as sufficient proof of the ECB’s jurisdiction. In Wilner, the affidavits were defective on their face. However, the lower court found service to be proper, stating that service made in accordance with Article 3 of the CPLR is merely a permissible alternative and is not mandated.
This arose as follows: Under §3-82, anyone requesting to vacate a default must fill out the ECB vacating a default form. If the request is not received within 45 days, the applicant must check on the form one of the permissible reasons to open a default.
However, at the Appellate Division, Wilner underlined the requirements in §1049-a to conform to the methods of service in ordinary judicial proceedings and emphasized that the ECB must not rubber stamp affidavits of service presented to it, but critically examine them for sufficiency under the statutes to which they purport to conform. Thus Wilner is landmark in holding the ECB to the rigors of its own regulations, disallowing ECB’s practice simply assuming that the affidavits of service are valid.
Ordinarily, an affidavit of service is sufficient to establish service. Here, however, each affidavit of service recites that affix and mail service was made after a reasonable attempt at service was made… The DOB’s affidavits of service, however, do not set forth any specifics as to what reasonable attempts at service were made prior to resorting to affix and mail service. Although some affidavits of service state “no one available to accept the violation” the DOB inspector did not state what efforts were made to locate a person of suitable age and discretion.
Although Wilner is a very recent case, its ripples are beginning to appear. Matter of 985 Amsterdam Ave. v. Beddoe,21 cited to Wilner with regard to the service of process that is at the core of Wilner, but used Wilner as the core for its citation to Gutierrez v. Rhea,22 for the proposition that “rules of an administrative agency, duly promulgated, are binding upon the agency as well as upon any other person who might be affected.” Under the Gutierrez rule as seen through the lens of Wilner, Beddoe vacates defaults before the ECB because inter alia, Beddoe found that the ECB’s vacating a default form is both inconsistent with the regulations governing ECB and does not allow for other valid possibilities to vacate a default outside of the 45-day no-reason-needed period. Thus Wilner’s enforcement of regulations against the ECB is expanded to include all areas in which ECB’s adjudication methods and enforcement procedures as applied fail to adhere to the regulations as written.
Undeniably, the ECB has an immense caseload that requires efficiency in processing. Undeniably, the enforcement of the various quality of life laws and a real estate safe city is an absolutely necessary governmental function. Yet, our system of ordered liberty requires that any government be itself bound by the same laws that binds its citizens. This, unfortunately, is ECB’s great failing. Many times in our society, due process protections start from decisions of our courts. And once again our courts have made the first move to stand up for law and order in imposing fines affecting persons and their businesses and real estate. Now we call upon the agency to step up and follow the law of these cases when processing and prosecuting the Department of Building and Health violations. Unfortunately, thus far, we have seen no evidence of progress.
Adam Leitman Bailey is the founding partner of Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Dov Treiman is a partner at the firm. Joanna Peck, an associate, and an intern at the firm, assisted in the preparation of this article.
2. These are rough figures and do not account for the funding the city receives from other fine collecting bodies such as the criminal courts.
9. If it is an entity, the server needs to determine what type.
10. Which can be found in either CPLR Article 3 or BCL Article 3.
11. Gallo v. City of New York, 36 Misc.3d 1204(A) (2012) (including providing specifics as to what sort of reasonable attempts at personal service were made).
12. Oparaji v. City of New York, 2011 N.Y. Slip Op. 33265(U) (Sup. Ct. 2011).
13. Diuccio v. Soren, 96 AD3d 994, 947 NYS2d 563.
14. Kaufman v. Eli Lilly, 65 N.Y.2d 449 (1985).
15. 102 A.D.3d 582, 958 N.Y.S.2d 388 (2013).
16. 48 R.C.N.Y. §§3-82 (c)(1)(A),(c)(2).
18. 508 Realty Assocs. v. DHCR, 61 AD3d 753, 877 NYS2d 392 (AD2 2009).
19. Wilner v. Beddoe, 928 N.Y.S.2d 884, 894 (Sup. Ct. 2011) (reiterating the statements made by Helen Balsam, Legal Director of the ECB, in her affirmation).
20. 36 Misc.3d 1204(A) (2012).
21. 102332/2012, NYLJ 1202608296119, at *1 (Sup., NY, Decided May 22, 2013).
22. 105 A.D.3d 481, 964 N.Y.S.2d 1, 2013 WL 1458598 (N.Y.A.D. 1st Dept.), 2013 N.Y. Slip Op. 02453.

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