How long do I have before I can be evicted if I am behind on my rent?
Full Question:
If I miss a few rent payments, and I have a legal lease, in a legal apartment complex how long do I have till the landlord can legally kick me out?
05/19/2007 |
Category: Landlord Tenant |
State: New York |
#5324
Answer:
You should carefully read the terms in your lease agreement regarding late payments and eviction.
The applicable New York statutes are as follows:
§ 711 Real Prop. Acts. Grounds where landlord-tenant relationship
exists.
A tenant shall include an occupant of one or more rooms in a rooming
house or a resident, not including a transient occupant, of one or more
rooms in a hotel who has been in possession for thirty consecutive days or
longer; he shall not be removed from possession except in a special
proceeding. A special proceeding may be maintained under this article upon
the following grounds:
1. The tenant continues in possession of any portion of the premises
after the expiration of his term, without the permission of the landlord
or, in a case where a new lessee is entitled to possession, without the
permission of the new lessee. Acceptance of rent after commencement of the
special proceeding upon this ground shall not terminate such proceeding nor
effect any award of possession to the landlord or to the new lessee, as the
case may be. A proceeding seeking to recover possession of real property by
reason of the termination of the term fixed in the lease pursuant to a
provision contained therein giving the landlord the right to terminate the
time fixed for occupancy under such agreement if he deem the tenant
objectionable, shall not be maintainable unless the landlord shall by
competent evidence establish to the satisfaction of the court that the
tenant is objectionable.
2. The tenant has defaulted in the payment of rent, pursuant to the
agreement under which the premises are held, and a demand of the rent has
been made, or at least three days' notice in writing requiring, in the
alternative, the payment of the rent, or the possession of the premises,
has been served upon him as prescribed in section 735. The landlord may
waive his right to proceed upon this ground only by an express consent in
writing to permit the tenant to continue in possession, which consent shall
be revocable at will, in which event the landlord shall be deemed to have
waived his right to summary dispossess for nonpayment of rent accruing
during the time said consent remains unrevoked. Any person succeeding to
the landlord's interest in the premises may proceed under this subdivision
for rent due his predecessor in interest if he has a right thereto. Where a
tenant dies during the term of the lease and rent due has not been paid and
no representative or person has taken possession of the premises and no
administrator or executor has been appointed, the proceeding may be
commenced after three months from the date of death of the tenant by
joining the surviving spouse or if there is none, then one of the surviving
issue or if there is none, then any one of the distributees.
3. The tenant, in a city defaults in the payment, for sixty days after
the same shall be payable, of any taxes or assessments levied on the
premises which he has agreed in writing to pay pursuant to the agreement
under which the premises are held, and a demand for payment has been made,
or at least three days' notice in writing, requiring in the alternative the
payment thereof and of any interest and penalty thereon, or the possession
of the premises, has been served upon him, as prescribed in section 735. An
acceptance of any rent shall not be construed as a waiver of the agreement
to pay taxes or assessments.
4. The tenant, under a lease for a term of three years or less, has
during the term taken the benefit of an insolvency statute or has been
adjudicated a bankrupt.
5. The premises, or any part thereof, are used or occupied as a
bawdy-house, or house or place of assignation for lewd persons, or for
purposes of prostitution, or for any illegal trade or manufacture, or other
illegal business. 6. The tenant, in a city having a population of one
million or more, removes the batteries or otherwise disconnects or makes
inoperable an installed smoke or fire detector which the tenant has not
requested be moved from its location so as not to interfere with the
reasonable use of kitchen facilities provided that the court, upon
complaint thereof, has previously issued an order of violation of the
provisions heretofore stated and, subsequent to the thirtieth day after
service of such order upon the tenant, an official inspection report by the
appropriate department of housing preservation and development is
presented, in writing, indicating non-compliance herewith; provided
further, that the tenant shall have the additional ten day period to cure
such violation in accordance with the provisions of subdivision four of
section seven hundred fifty-three of this chapter.