Eviction, Article 78 & Civil Litigation Lawyer, Long Island, New York
It is not uncommon for tenants to fall behind from time-to-time in paying rent. It is also quite normal for tenants to be a little late from time-to-time in paying rent. But occasionally a tenant falls so far behind that the end of the landlord-tenant relationship becomes inevitable.
There are three approaches tenants tend to take when confronted with this scenario, only one of which is correct. [Read more…] about A Tip For New York Tenants Who Fail to Pay the Rent
Thirty-Day Notice of Termination – A notification, pursuant to Real Property Law § 232-b, by a landlord to a tenant, or by a tenant to a landlord, that either elects to terminate a month-to-month tenancy. The notification must be made at least one month prior to the end of a monthly term, before a hold-over action can be brought to evict a month-to-month tenant.
The simple answer is YES.
Courts, for a long time, were split on this issue. As most seasoned landlord-tenant attorneys know, the Nassau County District Court has traditionally held that so long as the property is being used in conformity with its certificate of occupancy, a landlord may recover rent. Eviction actions based on non-payment of rent in Nassau County were generally not dismissed even where the rental was in violation of the certificate of occupancy, but the Court would simply not award a monetary judgment in such cases, granting only possession.
This seems to be a common question that landlords ask once it becomes apparent that they will soon have to evict their tenant. Landlords become concerned with possible damage being done to the apartment, and want to inspect its condition before the tenant moves out. But it’s important for landlords to understand that they DO NOT have the authority to enter their tenant’s apartment without the tenant’s permission, unless there is a specific reservation in the lease entitling them to do so, or unless exigent circumstances exist, such as pipes bursting or a fire, which would require immediate attention.
[Read more…] about Can a Landlord Enter a Tenant’s Apartment Without the Tenant’s Permission?
When a landlord brings an eviction action, whether it is a non-payment action or a hold-over, and is successful, he or she will be awarded a landlord-tenant judgment. A landlord-tenant judgment is a judgment of possession. In other words, it awards the landlord possession of the premises. It can also include a monetary judgment for back rent. All judgments are enforced by the county sheriff.
[Read more…] about What Is a Landord-Tenant Judgment and Warrant of Eviction?
Most landlords will eventually be confronted with the eviction process when they have to evict a tenant, either for non-payment of rent or for other violations of the lease agreement. When dealing with an eviction, there are some important steps a landlord should remember.
[Read more…] about The Long Island New York Eviction Process
One of the most important factors in determining how to evict someone is whether the person to be evicted ever paid any amount of money in exchange for his or her occupancy. The reason for this relates to the fact that there are essentially two mechanisms for eviction: the non-payment proceeding and the hold-over proceeding. The non-payment proceeding is limited to landlords seeking to evict tenants for having unjustly failed to pay rent; the hold-over proceeding is used for all other types of evictions and is not limited to landlord-tenant relationships. Since different procedural predicates are required in hold-over proceedings based on the particular relationship of the occupant to the property, it is crucial to know what type of proceeding to bring.
Many landlords feel a need to memorialize in writing almost every word exchanged with their tenants. But is having a written lease agreement really in the landlord’s interest?
[Read more…] about Landlords, Think Twice About Signing a Written Lease With Your Tenant.
In both Nassau and Suffolk County, when a landlord goes to court to evict a tenant, the landlord is seeking legal authority to have an enforcement officer physically remove the tenant from the rental premises, restoring possession to the landlord. The landlord is also seeking the authority to attach certain of the tenant’s assets to collect back rent due.
Two things are certain about almost every landlord-tenant relationship: that the tenant will be required to deposit money with the landlord as security before moving in; and that the relationship will end at some point. So what happens to the security deposit? Generally, the landlord has a duty to return it to the tenant when he or she moves out. But not surprisingly, sometimes the tenant causes damages to the apartment. In those cases, the landlord will want to assert a claim to the security deposit to setoff the cost of repairing the damages. You may be surprised to learn that depending on how a landlord handles the security deposit, he or she may have no claim to it at all, and may have to return it in full to the tenant.