Outline of the eviction process in New York

New York evictions are summary proceedings under Article 7 of the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law (RPAPL). The 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) lengthened every notice period, and the 2024 Good Cause Eviction Law now limits no-fault evictions in New York City and a growing list of upstate and Hudson Valley municipalities. Outside the city an uncontested nonpayment case can still finish in two to three months. Inside the city, plan on four to eight months, and longer if the tenant is represented.

1. Grounds and the Good Cause overlay

The two kinds of summary proceeding are a nonpayment proceeding (RPAPL 711(2)) and a holdover proceeding (RPAPL 711(1)) for everything else: expired lease, month-to-month termination, lease violations, nuisance and illegal use.

Good Cause Eviction (2024). In New York City automatically, and in the municipalities that have opted in (as of mid-2026 these include Albany, Beacon, Binghamton, Hudson, Ithaca, Kingston, Middletown, New Rochelle, Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, White Plains and several towns and villages), a landlord may not refuse to renew or evict a covered tenant without one of the statutory good causes: nonpayment, lease violation, nuisance, illegal use, owner occupancy, demolition, or refusal of a reasonable renewal. A rent increase above the local threshold (5 percent plus CPI, capped at 10 percent statewide) is presumed unreasonable. Units are exempt if the owner holds ten or fewer units statewide (localities may set a lower number), the building is owner-occupied with ten or fewer units, the rent is above the local threshold (245 percent of fair market rent in NYC; an opt-in locality may set its own percentage in its local law), the unit is a condo or co-op, or the building received its certificate of occupancy after January 1, 2009 (for 30 years). Other exemptions in RPL 214 include seasonal and employment-tied units, manufactured homes, hotels, dormitories and units already subject to rent regulation or affordability restrictions. Under RPL 231-c the Good Cause notice must be appended to or incorporated in every initial lease, every renewal lease, the RPL 226-c notice of non-renewal or rent increase, the 14-day rent demand, and the petition itself. Article 6-A is scheduled to expire on June 15, 2034.

Rent-stabilized and rent-controlled apartments have their own, stricter rules and are outside the scope of this outline.

2. Notices

• Nonpayment: 14-day rent demand. A written demand for the specific rent owed, giving at least 14 days to pay or surrender (RPAPL 711(2)). Separately, the landlord must send a five-day late notice by certified mail when rent is five days late (RPL 235-e(d)); failure to send it is a defense.
• Lease violations: notice to cure, then notice to terminate. A ten-day cure notice is required for rent-stabilized units and is standard practice elsewhere; the lease usually sets the period. If the breach is not cured, serve a termination notice (30 days is common) before filing a holdover.
• Non-renewal or month-to-month termination. Notice based on how long the tenant has been in occupancy: 30 days if under one year, 60 days for one to two years, 90 days for two years or more. RPL 226-c measures this by the tenant’s cumulative time in occupancy or the length of the lease term, whichever is longer, so a tenant on a one-year lease is owed 60 days even in the first year. Month-to-month terminations are under RPL 232-a in New York City and RPL 232-b elsewhere. The same notice periods apply to a rent increase of five percent or more.
• Federally covered properties add the CARES Act 30-day notice for nonpayment.

Service of predicate notices follows RPAPL 735: personal delivery, substituted service on a person of suitable age with a mailing, or conspicuous-place ("nail and mail") service after reasonable attempts, with both certified and regular mailings. Defective service is the most common reason New York cases are dismissed.

3. Filing the petition

File a Notice of Petition and Petition in the New York City Civil Court, Housing Part for city properties, or in the district, city, town or village court for the location elsewhere (RPAPL 731). The fee for the notice of petition is $45 in NYC Housing Court, in the district courts (UDCA 1911) and in the city courts, and $20 in town and village justice courts (UJCA 1911). The petition must attach the predicate notices, describe the premises, state the rent regulatory status, and include the Good Cause notice where applicable. In holdovers, and in nonpayment cases outside New York City, the papers must be served at least ten and not more than seventeen days before the return date (RPAPL 733), and an affidavit of service is filed. New York City nonpayment cases run on a different clock, described next.

4. The return date, answers and adjournments

New York City nonpayment cases follow RPAPL 732. There is no return date on the notice of petition. The tenant has ten days after service to answer, orally or in writing, at the clerk’s office. If the tenant answers, the clerk sets the first court date three to eight days later. If the tenant does not answer, the landlord may apply for a default judgment. Elsewhere, and in all holdovers, the tenant may answer orally or in writing at or before the return date. Outside NYC, the first date is often the trial date if the tenant does not appear. In NYC Housing Court the first date is a calendar call in a resolution part, where most cases are adjourned for the tenant to find counsel (NYC's Right to Counsel program provides free lawyers to tenants aged 60 and over regardless of income, and to other tenants at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level) and then negotiated. When issue is joined, either party is entitled on request to one adjournment of at least 14 days; later adjournments are in the court’s discretion (RPAPL 745). Expect three to five court dates in a contested NYC case.

5. Trial and judgment

Trials are before a judge (a jury can be demanded but rarely is). Bring the lease, ledger, rent demand and five-day notice with proof of mailing, the affidavits of service, the deed or management authority, and, where applicable, proof of registration with the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal. Common defenses are defective notice or service, the warranty of habitability (RPL 235-b) with a rent abatement counterclaim, retaliation, and the Good Cause law itself. Judgment of possession, with a money judgment for rent in nonpayment cases, enters after trial or by default. Only rent can be recovered in the summary proceeding. RPAPL 702 defines rent as the monthly or weekly amount charged for use and occupancy and bars claims for late fees, legal fees and other charges in a residential summary proceeding, so leave them off the rent demand and the petition and pursue them separately if at all.

6. Warrant of eviction and the marshal

After judgment the court issues a warrant of eviction. A city marshal (NYC) or the sheriff (elsewhere) serves a 14-day notice of eviction before executing the warrant, and the warrant may be executed only on a business day between sunrise and sunset (RPAPL 749). In a nonpayment case the court must vacate the warrant if the tenant pays the full rent due before it is executed, unless you show the rent was withheld in bad faith (RPAPL 749(3)). Tenants may also move for a stay. RPAPL 753 applies statewide, including New York City: on a showing of hardship the court may stay the warrant for up to one year, conditioned on the tenant depositing use and occupancy at the last rent. And where the holdover is based on a lease violation, the court must grant a 30-day stay after judgment during which the tenant may cure the breach (RPAPL 753(4)). A landlord who wins a lease-breach holdover has not won possession until those 30 days pass without a cure. On the execution date the marshal removes the occupants and the landlord may change the locks; the tenant's property must be handled under local rules, and NYC marshals require the landlord to arrange a bonded mover for a full eviction or accept a "possession only" legal possession that leaves the belongings in place under the landlord's care.

Unlawful eviction is a class A misdemeanor everywhere in the state under RPAPL 768, which also carries a civil penalty of $1,000 to $10,000 per violation and up to $100 a day, for as long as six months, for failing to restore the tenant. New York City adds its own provisions (Admin. Code 26-521), and self-help also exposes landlords to treble damages under RPAPL 853.

Typical timeline

Step	Typical time
Five-day certified late notice, then 14-day rent demand	3 weeks from the due date
Non-renewal notice (holdovers)	30, 60 or 90 days
Service to return date	10 to 17 days
Adjournments and negotiation (NYC)	1 to 4 months
Trial and judgment	1 to 3 court dates
Warrant and marshal's 14-day notice	3 to 6 weeks

Outside NYC an uncontested nonpayment case commonly takes two to three months from the rent demand to the sheriff's execution. In NYC Housing Court, four to eight months is typical, and represented tenants and hardship stays can push a holdover past a year.

Recent law changes landlords should know

• Good Cause Eviction Law (April 20, 2024). NYC plus opt-in municipalities; lease and notice riders required; presumptive rent-increase cap.
• HSTPA (2019). 14-day rent demand, 30/60/90-day non-renewal notices, security deposits capped at one month, late fees capped at the lesser of $50 or five percent, application fees capped at $20, and a ban on tenant blacklists.
• Dishonored check fees (October 16, 2025). L. 2025, ch. 431 amended RPL 238-a: a returned-check fee may be charged only if the lease provides for it, and it may not exceed the landlord’s actual cost or the General Obligations Law 5-328 amount ($20), whichever is greater, and a landlord charging more than $20 must give the tenant proof of the actual cost on request.
• Right to Counsel. NYC provides free counsel in Housing Court to tenants 60 and over and to tenants at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
• Warrant notice. The marshal's notice period is 14 days statewide since 2019.

When to bring in an attorney

New York is a state where landlords should assume they need counsel for anything beyond a simple nonpayment case outside the city. Corporations and LLCs must appear through an attorney in any event. The predicate-notice and service rules, the Good Cause riders, the habitability counterclaim, and NYC Housing Court practice all reward experience. The New York attorneys listed below represent landlords in Housing Court and in the district and city courts on Long Island, in Westchester and upstate.

Sources

• RPAPL Article 7, including §§ 711, 731, 732, 735, 745, 749, 753, 768; RPL §§ 226-c, 232-a, 232-b, 235-b, 235-e; RPL Article 6-A (Good Cause Eviction, §§ 210 to 218) and RPL § 231-c (Good Cause notice); RPAPL §§ 702, 733 and 853; RPL § 238-a; Uniform District Court Act § 1911 and Uniform Justice Court Act § 1911 (fees).
• Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (L. 2019, ch. 36); L. 2024, ch. 56, Part HH (Good Cause Eviction).
• NYS Homes and Community Renewal, Good Cause Eviction fact sheet (May 2026 update); NYC Civil Court Housing Part procedures.