Holdover Evictions in New York

Yes. The absence of a written lease does not protect a tenant in New York. A verbal month-to-month arrangement is treated the same as a written one. The occupant is still subject to the predicate notice and holdover proceeding process. The notice period required depends on how long they have been at the property.

Yes. A holdover proceeding does not require the tenant to have done anything wrong. Once the required notice period passes and the tenant does not leave, you can file the holdover petition. Payment of rent does not stop the proceeding.

A holdover proceeding. Here’s why: in a nonpayment proceeding, a tenant can stop the eviction by paying what they owe. So if your tenant is violent or disruptive but pays rent on time, a nonpayment proceeding gets you nowhere. A holdover proceeding is not affected by rent payment. Once you serve the notice and file the petition, the case moves forward regardless of what the tenant pays.

A nonpayment proceeding is based on the tenant failing to pay rent. The tenant can stop it by paying. A holdover proceeding is based on your right to recover possession of the property, and rent payment does not stop it. Use a nonpayment proceeding when the money is the issue. Use a holdover when you want them out no matter what.

Most holdover cases in Nassau County resolve in 60 to 90 days from the time we are retained. The predicate notice period runs first, typically 30 to 90 days depending on occupancy type. After that, the petition is filed, a court date is scheduled at the Nassau County District Court, and in most cases the matter resolves at or before the first court appearance.

The timeline in Suffolk County is similar to Nassau, typically 60 to 120 days from retention to removal. The specific district court that handles your case depends on the town where the property is located. Court scheduling varies slightly by location but we account for that in your timeline estimate on the free consultation call.

90 days. Any tenant or month-to-month occupant who has resided at the property for two years or more requires a 90-day predicate notice before you can file a holdover petition. That applies whether the arrangement was written or verbal.

A nonpayment proceeding is generally faster because the predicate notice is shorter (14 days for the rent demand, then 14 days to answer the petition). A holdover proceeding takes longer to start because the predicate notice period is longer (30, 60, or 90 days). But a holdover is not subject to being stopped by payment, which makes it the better tool when you want the tenant out regardless of what they pay.

No. Payment of rent does not stop a holdover proceeding. That is one of the main reasons to choose a holdover over a nonpayment proceeding when your goal is to recover possession rather than collect money.

You are not legally required to have a lawyer. But holdover proceedings have specific technical requirements around notice type, service, and petition content. A defect in any of those gets the case dismissed, and you lose the time and filing costs. Most landlords who try to handle it themselves and run into a problem end up calling us anyway, just later and with more money lost. A free consultation call costs you nothing and tells you exactly what you’re dealing with.

We file the holdover petition in district court. A court date is scheduled. If the court rules in your favor, a warrant of eviction is issued and the county sheriff removes the tenant from the property. We handle all of that. You do not need to appear in court yourself in most cases.

A licensee is someone you allowed to stay at the property who never had exclusive possession of any part of it and never had a formal tenancy. A classic example is a house guest who overstayed, or a family member you allowed to stay informally. A licensee only requires a 10-day notice before you can file a holdover petition. A tenant or month-to-month occupant requires 30, 60, or 90 days depending on length of stay.

If you want them out no matter what, file a holdover. Yes, a nonpayment proceeding is faster to start. But if they pay the back rent owed, the nonpayment case gets dismissed and they stay. A holdover proceeding eliminates that risk. The tradeoff is a longer notice period before filing. Call us and we’ll walk through which makes more sense for your specific situation.

The first step is serving the correct predicate notice. The length of that notice depends on how long the tenant has been at the property: 30 days if less than a year, 60 days if between one and two years, 90 days if two years or more. Once the notice period passes without the tenant leaving, we file the holdover petition in the appropriate Suffolk County District Court for the town where the property is located. Call us and we’ll confirm the right notice and get started.