In New York, Landlord Tenant proceedings arecommonly lawsuits toregain possession of real property pursuant to New York State’s Real Property Law and Rules.Lawsuits to recover possession of a premises are the most customary Landlord and Tenantproceedings brought in Nassau District Court and Suffolk District Court.The most conventional types of summary actions are:
Holdover Actions - This type of actionis initiated when a tenant remains in a house or apartment after their lease expires, and against the will of the property owner.
Non-Payment Proceedings - initiated when the tenant stops paying rent and the landlord makes a demand that the tenant pay the rent or leave the premises.
New York City, Nassau and Suffolk eviction actions are specialized, and procedural rulesshould be rigorouslyfollowed, or your case may be dismissed by the court.
Do you need to retain an Attorney to Evict a tenant?
Proceedings to evict your tenant and secure a judgment for back rent requires particularlegal knowledge. When evicting someone, New York, Nassau and Suffolk courts allvigorously advocate to landlords that they retainan attorney. This is because if you wish to proceed in an eviction proceeding in New York without an attorney, you have to draft your own legal papers without any aid from anyone.
The court has stringent rules when it comes to procedural requirements, and often pro se litigants have their case irrevocably dismissed because they fail to follow the specialized and procedural rules established by the court.
What Forms do you Need to Evict Someone?
For Non-Payment proceedings, you have to draft, file and serve a petition and a Notice of Petition. Most of the eviction New York legal forms that you would need are available on the internet. Just make certain that the document you find is specifically written for New York State courts, as a generic petition will be dismissed.
Forms written for courts other than the district you are filing in will most likely be discontinued by the court.
For a particular proceeding known as a holdover proceeding, you have to draft, file and serve a Petition and Notice of Petition that contains specialized holdover language.
What Happens When You Win in Court?
Non-Payment proceedings require you to draft a Judgment and Warrant for the judge to sign which particularizes the amount of money due from your former renters. For holdover actions, you have to give to the Court a proposed Judgment and Warrant detailing any money outstanding, as well as ownership of the premises.
How Do You Draft or File Landlord Tenant Petitions On Your Own?
If you bring an eviction proceeding without a lawyer, you will be responsible for preparing your petition in accordance with the law without any help from the court. You are responsible for finding and filling out the appropriate form, but there are several New York lawyers that give free landlord tenant New York advice to landlords in need and will be happy to help you.
As a reminder, all forms submitted to the court must be drafted using black ink, and payment of the filing fee is necessary beforehand to purchase an index number. Your court clerk will review your paperwork for completeness and conformity with state laws and local rules, and will only accept them if they are correct. The clerk will assign a court date for you and your renter to hold a trial, and you will have to find and pay for a process server to serve all papers on your tenant within a certain time.
Please note all tenants must be given at least 5 days, but no more than 12 days notice to appear. If all court papers are served directly on the tenants, then you have 5 days from the actual date of service.
If the petition is served on your tenant by any other type of personal service, the five days are counted from the date the petition was filed with the court along with proof of service. A copy of the petition must be served by someone who is eighteen or older, and cannot be the property owner or anyone with a property interest in the apartment. Proof of service must be filed with the court within 3 days of completing service.
There may be particular legal requirements incurred on the landlord that must be followed before you can bring an eviction proceeding (such as service of a 30 day notice).
You should speak with an attorney as soon as possible to make sure you have fulfilled all of the legal prerequisites. This information contained on this website serves only to educate you in general about Suffolk, Nassau and New York landlord tenant law & general eviction proceedings in New York.
It is up to you to establish that you have a right to recover rent or property from your tenant at trial in front of a judge. (Remember, the court staff is prohibited from giving you any legal advice, so you must handle the matter on your own if you do not hire an attorney, and you must appear in court and present your case).
Landlord Tenant proceedings require sophisticated and specified knowledge of the law and rules of County Court. Most Courts, including Nassau and Suffolk County, suggest that you at least consult with a NY tenant landlord attorney before proceeding as a self-represented litigant.
The Conclusion of Your Eviction Proceeding:
A Landlord Tenant action concludes with a judgment, which is a prerequisite for issuing a warrant of eviction. Once a warrant is issued by the judge, if the tenant still refuses to leave, you can contact your County’s enforcement officer (the Suffolk or Nassau County Sheriff, or Marshall if within NYC) who will in turn charge you a fee, and will notify the tenants that they have 72 hours notice to vacate the premises before they will physically removed by authorities.