How a New York eviction case is structured
New York evictions are summary proceedings under Article 7 of the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law (RPAPL). There are two kinds. A nonpayment proceeding seeks rent and possession after a rent demand. A holdover proceeding seeks possession after the tenancy has ended, either because a lease expired or because you served a termination notice.
Cases go to the Housing Part of the Civil Court in New York City and to city, district, town or village courts elsewhere. Our New York landlord-tenant law guide covers the 30, 60 and 90-day termination and rent increase notices, deposits and late fees. This page covers the case itself, from the first notice to the warrant.
Before the rent demand: the 5-day certified mail notice
If you have not received rent within five days of the due date in the lease, Real Property Law 235-e(d) requires you to send the tenant a written notice by certified mail saying the payment was not received. Skip it and the tenant can raise the omission as an affirmative defense in the nonpayment case. Send it on day 5 and keep the mailing receipt.
This notice is separate from the rent demand. Many owners send both, but the certified mail notice does not start any clock.
The 14-day rent demand
A nonpayment proceeding can be brought only after a written demand for the rent, with at least 14 days’ notice, that requires payment or possession (RPAPL 711(2)). The demand must be served the way RPAPL 735 prescribes: personal delivery, delivery to a person of suitable age and discretion at the property, or, after a reasonable attempt, posting or sliding it under the door followed within one day by both certified and regular first-class mail.
Since the 2024 Good Cause law, the demand must also contain or attach the notice required by RPL 231-c, stating whether the unit is covered by Good Cause Eviction and, if it is exempt, why. Use the current form from New York Homes and Community Renewal (HCR).
Demand rent only. RPAPL 702 bars any fees, charges or penalties other than rent in a summary proceeding, so late fees and legal fees belong in a separate money claim.
Good Cause Eviction: which grounds you can use
Good Cause Eviction (RPL Article 6-A) applies automatically in New York City and in municipalities that opt in. It exempts, among others, small landlords, owner-occupied buildings with 10 or fewer units, rent-regulated units, co-ops and condos, units with a certificate of occupancy issued on or after January 1, 2009 for 30 years, and units renting above the local high-rent threshold (RPL 214).
In a covered unit you need one of the grounds in RPL 216, including:
- Unpaid rent, unless the arrears come from a rent increase the law treats as unreasonable.
- A substantial lease violation the tenant fails to cure within 10 days after written notice to cease.
- Nuisance, malicious or grossly negligent damage, or illegal use of the unit.
- Unreasonable refusal of access for repairs or for showing the unit to a buyer or lender.
- Good-faith owner or family occupancy, demolition or withdrawal from the market, each proven by clear and convincing evidence.
- Refusal of a reasonable lease renewal offered in writing 30 to 90 days before the lease expires.
Filing and serving the petition
Once the demand period ends, file a petition and notice of petition in the local court. For most proceedings, RPAPL 733 requires service at least 10 and not more than 17 days before the first court date. Service follows RPAPL 735, and the papers and proof of service must be filed within three days after service or mailing. Service by posting is complete only when proof is filed.
In courts whose rules adopt RPAPL 732 for nonpayment cases, the notice of petition is returnable before the clerk within 10 days after service. If the tenant answers, the clerk sets a hearing 3 to 8 days after issue is joined. If the tenant fails to answer, the judge enters judgment for the owner and may stay the warrant for up to 10 days.
Adjournments and stays that stretch the timeline
Once issue is joined, the court must adjourn the trial for at least 14 days if either party asks (RPAPL 745(1)). Further adjournments are discretionary. In New York City, after the second adjournment requested by the tenant or 60 days after the first appearance, the court may order the tenant to deposit rent or use and occupancy (745(2)).
Holdover cases carry two more stays. In a case based on a lease violation, the court must give the tenant 30 days to cure before the warrant issues (RPAPL 753(4)). In any residential holdover, a tenant who cannot find similar housing nearby or would suffer extreme hardship can ask for a stay of up to one year, conditioned on paying use and occupancy into court (753(1)–(2)).
The warrant of eviction and the 14-day notice
After judgment, the court issues a warrant to the sheriff, or to a city marshal or constable. The officer must give the tenant at least 14 days’ written notice, served like a notice of petition, and can execute only on a business day between sunrise and sunset (RPAPL 749(2)).
In a nonpayment case, the court must vacate the warrant if the tenant pays or deposits the full rent due at any time before it is executed, unless you prove the rent was withheld in bad faith (749(3)). Collect your full ledger balance before the marshal’s date, and the case usually ends there.
Lockouts, retaliation and federal rules
An owner who removes or tries to remove a tenant of 30 days or more without a warrant, by force, utility shutoffs, lock changes or removing belongings, commits a class A misdemeanor and faces a civil penalty of $1,000 to $10,000 per violation, plus up to $100 a day for failing to restore the tenant (RPAPL 768).
Retaliation is presumed if you serve a notice or start a case within one year after a good-faith complaint about conditions, an effort to enforce the lease or tenant organizing (RPL 223-b), except in owner-occupied buildings with fewer than four units.
If your building has a federally backed mortgage, such as a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or FHA-insured loan, or takes part in a covered federal housing program, the CARES Act notice rule may apply. Section 4024(c), codified at 15 U.S.C. 9058(c), bars a landlord of a covered property from requiring a tenant to leave until 30 days after a notice to vacate. The 120-day moratorium expired in 2020, but the 30-day text is still in the statute and courts have disagreed on whether it still applies. Serving 30 days at a covered building sidesteps the question. Before any default judgment, file the military-status affidavit the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act requires (50 U.S.C. 3931).
New York eviction timeline at a glance
The table follows a nonpayment case on the shortest statutory path, counting the rent due date as day 0, in a court that applies RPAPL 733.
| Step | Deadline | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Serve 14-day rent demand | Day 1 at the earliest | RPAPL 711(2), 735 |
| Certified mail late-rent notice | If rent is not received within 5 days of the due date | RPL 235-e(d) |
| Demand expires | 14 days after service (day 15) | RPAPL 711(2) |
| Serve notice of petition and petition | 10 to 17 days before the first court date | RPAPL 733(1), 735 |
| File papers and proof of service | Within 3 days of service | RPAPL 735(2) |
| First court date and judgment | Day 26 at the earliest | RPAPL 733 |
| Adjournment on request | At least 14 days, once issue is joined | RPAPL 745(1) |
| Marshal or sheriff notice | At least 14 days before execution | RPAPL 749(2) |
| Tenant pays full rent | Any time before execution vacates the warrant | RPAPL 749(3) |
Worked example: a nonpayment case in a 20-unit Queens building
Assume a two-bedroom at $2,100 a month in a 20-unit Queens building built before 2009, below the high-rent threshold and not rent regulated, so Good Cause applies and nonpayment is the ground. Assume $2,000 in attorney and service costs. Both figures are illustrations, not market data. A day of lost rent is about $69.04.
On the shortest path, the demand is served on day 1 and expires on day 15, the petition is served on day 16, the first court date is day 26 and judgment is entered that day. The marshal serves the 14-day notice the same day and executes on day 40. That is $2,762 in lost rent and $4,762 with costs.
One 14-day adjournment, which either side can demand, moves possession to day 54: $3,728 in lost rent and $5,728 in total. Busy calendars push most real cases well past both figures.
| Scenario | Days to possession | Lost rent | Total with $2,000 costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shortest statutory path | 40 | $2,762 | $4,762 |
| With one 14-day adjournment | 54 | $3,728 | $5,728 |
Alternatives: payment agreements and cash for keys
Because a tenant can stop a nonpayment warrant by paying in full before execution, a written payment agreement, often entered as a stipulation in court, is the most common outcome in New York. When you need the unit back, a cash-for-keys deal signed in court or out of court can beat a 40-day minimum and avoids the risk of a one-year hardship stay in a holdover.
Selling a New York building with a pending eviction
An occupied building can be sold mid-case. The buyer takes title subject to the leases and the tenants’ rights, and its attorney can be substituted as petitioner or start over with a new demand after closing. Under Good Cause, a buyer must still prove a lawful ground, so give the buyer the demand, the 231-c notice, the petition and the ledger.
Ask each tenant for an estoppel certificate and disclose any stipulation, adjournment schedule or stay. Those terms bind the new owner.
Selling your New York apartment building to Skyline
Skyline Capital Investments buys apartment buildings with five or more units across New York, including occupied buildings with nonpaying tenants or cases already in Housing Court. You don’t need to finish the case first.
Send the address and unit count through the form on this page or call (469) 660-2977. We typically respond within 48 hours.
