In General
The Civil Court of the City of New York has a Housing Part devoted to actions and proceedings involving the enforcement of state and local laws for the establishment and maintenance of housing standards. The Housing Part has jurisdiction of summary proceedings, and in addition to judgments of possession, can award a judgment for rent in any amount.
The kinds of cases filed in the Landlord-Tenant Housing Part Office and decided in the Housing Court, include the following:
- Residential Holdover Proceedings
- Residential Non-Payment Proceedings
- Post-Eviction proceedings
- Housing Part Proceedings (HP)
- Nonpayment
Nonpayment case is brought by the landlord to collect unpaid rent. A tenant may be evicted for non-payment of rent.
Before the case can be started, the landlord or someone working for the landlord, must demand the overdue rent from the tenant and warn the tenant that if the rent is not paid, the tenant can be evicted. The landlord may tell the tenant this in person or in writing. If the tenant is told in person, the “demand” must be specific and include the months and amount due. For example, the landlord might say, “You owe the rent for January, February and March at $2000.00 per month, for a total of $6000.00. Are you going to pay?
If the tenant does not pay the rent after the demand is made, the landlord may file a nonpayment petition (sometimes called a “dispossess”) against the tenant in Housing Court.
If you have received a petition from the civil court, you must appear and answer within the time period provided for in the notice of petition. If you have received a postcard from the court indicating that papers have been filed asking the court to evict you from your residence, you must also answer.
If you do not answer and appear, the party suing you may be able to enter a possessory judgmentand/or a money judgment against you. The petitioner may be able to evict you, as well as garnish your wages or levy on your bank account. If you received a notice from a marshal or a sheriff you may be able to vacate your default and/or stop the eviction.
Eviction
Eviction proceedings are any proceeding that could result in the eviction of a respondent, such as a holdover or nonpayment proceeding
If you have received a notice from a marshal that you are to be evicted you must come to court as soon as possible. This is a very serious matter, and you must take care of it immediately. If you do not take care of it, the marshal may remove you and your property from the apartment. You can call the marshal’s office to find out if the marshal has scheduled your eviction yet. The phone number for the marshal’s office is on the notice.
If the tenant does not answer the Notice of Petition before the deadline, and does not pay the rent, the landlord can get a judgment on default and a warrant of eviction to evict the tenant.
Holdover
A holdover case is brought to evict a tenant or a person in the apartment who is not a tenant for reasons other than simple nonpayment of rent. A holdover case is much more complicated than a nonpayment case.
A holdover proceeding can have many variations. For example, if the tenant has violated a lease provision, illegally put others in the apartment, has become a nuisance to other tenants, or is staying after a lease has expired, the landlord may bring a holdover case. A roommate who is named on the lease can also bring a holdover proceeding to evict a roommate who is not named on the lease from the apartment.
There may or may not be a landlord/tenant relationship, and the petitioner may or may not need to show a good reason why a respondent’s occupancy should be terminated. The rights of the parties may be determined by a lease or other agreement, housing laws and regulations and/or the New York State or United States Constitution. A predicate notice may or may not have to be served.
The information given below is very general and there can be a number of differences in individual cases. The help of a lawyer is recommended in holdover cases.
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