Ayers v. Landow, 666 A.2d 51 (1995)

Citation: Ayers v. Landow, 666 A.2d 51 (1995)
Parent Document: Ayers v. Landow, 666 A.2d 51 (1995)
Jurisdiction: DC (municipal)
Effective Date: 1995-10-02
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2381535/ayers-v-landow/ ↗

Full Text

1,708 chars

The history of § 45-1406 reaches beyond its 1984 enactment, to the 1982 Supreme Court case of Greene v. Lindsey, 456 U.S. 444, 102 S.Ct. 1874, 72 L.Ed.2d 249. The question for the Court in Greene was whether the posting of a legal notice on a tenant’s door satisfied the tenant’s due process right to adequate notice of an alleged violation of the tenancy. The tenants in Greene asserted a lack of actual notice, arguing that in many cases where service was attempted by posting, notices were removed from doors before the tenants could retrieve them. The tenants had no way of knowing of the pending legal action. The Court reasoned that “[t]he sufficiency of notice must be tested with reference to its ability to inform people of the pendency of proceedings that affect their interests.” Id. at 451, 102 S.Ct. at 1879. The purpose of posting was not simply to comply with a statutory requirement as a condition precedent to a legal action, it was to help meaningfully inform the parties facing the action what was required of them. Id. at 452-53, 102 S.Ct. at 1879. The Court concluded that “[a]n elementary and fundamental .requirement of due process in any proceeding which is to be accorded finality is notice reasonably calculated, under all the circumstances, to apprise interested parties of the pendency of the action and afford them an opportunity to present their objections.” Greene, supra, 456 U.S. at 449-50, 102 S.Ct. at 1877-78 (quoting Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 339 U.S. 306, 314, 70 S.Ct. 652, 657, 94 L.Ed. 865 (1950) (emphasis added in Greene)). Posting alone was thus *60determined to be insufficient to meet that purpose. Id. 456 U.S. at 455-56,102 S.Ct. at 1880-81.

Other Sections in This Document (158)

Full Text