The NYC eviction process: step-by-step timeline

In New York City, a landlord can only evict you by suing in Housing Court, winning a judgment, and having a city marshal carry out a court warrant after giving you at least 14 days’ written notice. Every step has a legal notice period, and at almost every step you can still respond, pay, settle or ask the court for more time.

This guide walks through the process in order, with the minimum time each step must take under New York law. It is general information, not legal advice. Your papers, your lease and your building type all matter, and free lawyers are available to most tenants (see Right to Counsel).

Two kinds of eviction case

Almost every residential eviction in NYC is one of two types of “summary proceeding”:

• Nonpayment: the landlord says you owe rent. The case is about money first. If you pay the rent owed, the case can end. See the 14-day rent demand.
• Holdover: the landlord says you no longer have a right to stay, for example because the lease ended and was not renewed, you broke a substantial lease term, or you are not the tenant of record. Paying money does not by itself end a holdover case.

Many market-rate apartments are also covered by New York’s Good Cause Eviction law (Real Property Law Article 6-A), which limits the reasons a landlord can use to end a tenancy. Check whether Good Cause covers your apartment.

The nonpayment timeline, step by step

1. Rent is 5 days late

   Late notice by certified mail

   If the landlord has not received your rent within five days of the due date, they must send you a written notice by certified mail (Real Property Law § 235-e). If they don’t, you can raise that as a defense in a nonpayment case. A late fee is allowed only after this five-day grace period and is capped at $50 or 5% of the monthly rent, whichever is less.

2. Before any case is filed

   14-day written rent demand

   The landlord must serve a written demand giving you at least 14 days to pay the rent or give up possession. It must include a notice saying whether your unit is covered by the Good Cause Eviction law. A phone call, text or verbal demand does not count.

3. After the 14 days run out

   Notice of petition and petition are served

   The landlord files a petition in Housing Court and has it served on you by hand or by leaving it with a suitable adult at the apartment. If no one can be reached, it can be attached to your door or slipped under it. Unless it was handed to you, copies must also be mailed within one day by certified (or registered) and regular mail. Proof of service must be filed within three days (RPAPL § 735). Some tenants first learn of a case from a postcard sent by the court. Treat that postcard as seriously as the papers themselves.

4. Within 10 days of service

   You answer at the clerk’s office

   You answer orally at the Housing Court clerk’s counter or in writing. Your answer is where you list your defenses, such as bad service, repairs needed, rent already paid or the wrong amount demanded. The clerk then sets a court date 3 to 8 days later.

5. First court date

   Resolution Part: settle, adjourn or go to trial

   You check in with the clerk, can ask for a free lawyer, and can ask for an adjournment of at least 14 days (for example, to get a lawyer or documents). Most cases settle in a written stipulation. If they don’t, the case goes to a trial part.

6. After trial or default

   Judgment and warrant of eviction

   If the landlord wins, the court issues a judgment of possession and a warrant to a marshal or sheriff. The warrant states the earliest date the eviction may happen. If you never answered, the judge may still pause the warrant for up to 10 days.

7. At least 14 days before eviction

   Marshal’s notice of eviction

   The marshal must serve you a written notice at least 14 days before the eviction. The eviction itself can only happen on a business day between sunrise and sunset; the court says NYC marshals carry out evictions between 8am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. This is the stage to go straight to court with an order to show cause.

8. Up to the moment of eviction

   Pay in full and the warrant must be vacated

   In a nonpayment case, the court must vacate the warrant if you pay or deposit the full rent due any time before the eviction is carried out, unless the landlord proves you withheld rent in bad faith (RPAPL § 749(3)).

How long does an eviction take in NYC?

There is no fixed answer. The law sets minimum notice periods, but adjournments, settlements, rental assistance applications and the court’s calendar usually stretch a case out. If you add up the main periods the statutes set in a nonpayment case (14 + 10 + 3 + 14 days), you get about 41 days, roughly six weeks, from the rent demand to the earliest possible eviction date, even before the time it takes to file papers and issue the warrant. Real cases usually take much longer.

How a holdover case is different

A holdover case usually starts with a predicate notice instead of a rent demand. If a landlord is not renewing your lease (or is raising the rent by 5% or more), Real Property Law § 226-c requires advance written notice based on how long you have lived there:

Other differences to know:

• The holdover notice of petition must be served at least 10 and no more than 17 days before the hearing (RPAPL § 733).
• You answer a holdover petition at the hearing itself, orally or in writing (RPAPL § 743). Read your notice of petition carefully and follow any instructions it gives.
• If the case is about breaking a lease term, the court must give you a 30-day stay of the warrant to fix the problem (RPAPL § 753(4)).
• A judge can stay an eviction for up to one year if you can’t find similar housing in the neighborhood or the eviction would cause extreme hardship, such as serious illness or a child enrolled in a local school. You must keep paying the rent for that period into court (RPAPL § 753).

Where you can respond or get help

• Rent demand: check the amount, pay if you can and get a receipt, or apply for emergency help such as the HRA One Shot Deal.
• Petition: answer within the deadline, even if you plan to pay. Not answering lets the landlord get a default judgment.
• First court date: say “I would like an attorney.” See what to expect in Housing Court.
• Settlement: read every term and only sign what you can actually do.
• Marshal’s notice: go to the courthouse right away and ask for an order to show cause.

The city’s free tenant hotline, Housing Court Answers, is at 718-557-1379 or 212-962-4795 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm). You can also call 311 and ask for the Tenant Helpline.

After an eviction

Even after the marshal has carried out the warrant, the court keeps the power to restore a tenant to possession for good cause (RPAPL § 749(3)). This is hard to win and time matters, so go to the courthouse and contact a lawyer immediately. If you have nowhere to stay that night, call 311.

Before you sign a new lease anywhere, check the building on Roofy’s building lookup and read how past Housing Court cases show up in tenant screening.