If you are a landlord, and you are looking to evict your tenant from an apartment in Lindenhurst, or anywhere else within the Town of Babylon in Suffolk County, New York, then your eviction proceeding will take place in the Landlord-Tenant Part of the Suffolk County District Court, Second District, located at 30 East Hoffman Avenue, Lindenhurst, New York 11757-5001. The sitting judge in this Court is the Honorable Carl J. Copertino, District Court Judge, who will preside over your eviction proceeding. The courthouse is located on East Hoffman Avenue, just east of Wellwood Avenue, across from the Lindenhurst Station of the Long Island Railroad. The parking lot is very small and parking on the street is metered only. Public transportation is limited as well, since the courthouse does not lie directly on a Suffolk County bus route. You can find out more about this Court, including available public transportation and maps, by clicking here.
Landlord-Tenant Court in Lindenhurst takes place every Tuesday and begins at 9:30 AM. At that time the calendar will be called for the first time, and will be called again at about 10:30 AM. The courthouse opens for business at 9:00 AM and it is important to arrive on time. When your case is called, if all parties are present, the Judge will direct you to step outside the courtroom into the courthouse lobby to discuss the matter privately in hopes of settling your case. Stipulation of settlement forms are available in the courtroom.
If you settle your case, you must submit a signed stipulation of settlement form to the Judge, who will review it. If you are not represented by an attorney, the law requires the Judge to describe the terms of the settlement to you on the record and to ask you if agree to its terms and if you signed the stipulation of your own free will.
If the Judge finds your stipulation of settlement acceptable, your case will be settled. If you cannot settle, you will have a hearing, either later in the day, or on another day convenient to the Court, at which you must be prepared to testify. After hearing both sides, the Judge will make a decision. If the landlord prevails, a judgment of possession and a warrant of eviction will be issued. A monetary judgment may also be included for back rent. If the tenant prevails, the case will be dismissed.
Both parties are entitled to one adjournment as a matter of right. If the other side does not consent, then the maximum adjournment is one week and the case may be marked final against the party requesting the adjournment. A party who does not appear is in default. If the landlord fails to appear, the case will be dismissed; if the landlord appears but the tenant fails to appear, the landlord will win by default.
About Lindenhurst
Lindenhurst is a village in the Town of Babylon, in Suffolk County on Long Island, New York. It is bordered by Copiague to the west, North Amityville to the northwest, North Lindenhurst to the north, West Babylon to the east, and the Great South Bay to the south.
The village was originally named “Breslau” by the town’s original settlers, who were of German descent and came from the city of Breslau in Silesia. The town was founded in 1873, and renamed Lindenhurst in 1891.
A regrettable part of Lindenhurst’s history includes the fact that Nazi sympathizers of the German Bund were headquartered in Lindenhurst. In the late 1930s, the existence of the German American Bund was discovered and many of its Lindenhurst members were tried and convicted of treason. This of course is all in the very distant past and Lindenhurst today is a diverse and patriot community.
The Village has a local government led by Mayor Thomas A. Brennan, who began his third term of office in 2012. The mayor is the senior member of the Village Board of Trustees, each of whom is elected to office. Including the mayor, there are five trustees. Elected officials also include a village justice, a fire marshal, a code enforcement officer, and nine other elected posts. Village Hall, which also houses the Justice Court and all other village offices, is located on Wellwood Avenue, just north of Montauk Highway.
On October 30, 2012, Hurricane Sandy flooded over half the village’s streets. South of Montauk Highway the residual water level reached up to 6 feet. Most of the affected homes went without electrical power for over a week; some for months. Because of concerns over looting, the Suffolk County Police imposed curfews, which were enforced in many of the affected areas of Lindenhurst by the National Guard. Only people with proof of residency were allowed south of Montauk Highway, and only during certain hours. After two days the water subsided in most parts of the village and people began dealing with the aftermath. Many families lost their homes; some had to throw away all of their furniture, clothes and personal belongings; and some houses were condemned as unsafe and had to be demolished.