A holdover notice in New York is the written termination notice a landlord must serve on a tenant before starting an eviction case for any reason other than unpaid rent. Depending on how long the tenant has lived in the unit, the notice has to give them 30, 60, or 90 days. It also has to name the right people, state the right grounds, and reach the tenant in one of the ways the statute allows. Miss any of those pieces and the court will dismiss the case before it reaches the merits.1New York State Unified Court System. Landlord’s Guide to Holdover Eviction Proceedings
When a Holdover Notice Is Required
A holdover proceeding covers every residential eviction situation except nonpayment of rent, which follows its own rent-demand process. The most common triggers are a fixed-term lease that has expired with the tenant still in the unit, a month-to-month tenancy the landlord wants to end, a lease violation the tenant will not fix, nuisance behavior, illegal use of the premises, and situations where the owner needs the unit for personal occupancy.1New York State Unified Court System. Landlord’s Guide to Holdover Eviction Proceedings
For month-to-month tenancies, Real Property Law Section 232-a governs terminations in New York City and Section 232-b governs the rest of the state. Both now direct landlords of residential tenants to follow the notice periods in RPL Section 226-c, so the timing rules are the same wherever the unit is.2New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 232-A3New York State Senate. Real Property Law 232-B
How Much Notice You Have to Give
RPL Section 226-c ties the required notice period to the longer of two things: how long the tenant has cumulatively occupied the unit, or how long the current lease runs.4New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 226-C
- Under one year: at least 30 days’ notice
- One to two years: at least 60 days’ notice
- Over two years: at least 90 days’ notice
The word “cumulative” matters. A tenant who has been in the unit three years on a chain of one-year leases is a 90-day tenant, not a 30-day one. Counting from the start of the current lease is a common miscalculation, and it produces a notice that is short on its face.
Notice to Cure Comes First for Lease Violations
When the ground for eviction is a lease violation rather than a simple expiration, there are usually two notices, not one. The landlord first serves a notice to cure that identifies the specific violation and gives the tenant at least ten days to fix it.5New York State Senate. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 733 In areas covered by the good cause eviction law, the same ten-day cure period applies when the tenant is alleged to be violating a substantial lease obligation.1New York State Unified Court System. Landlord’s Guide to Holdover Eviction Proceedings
If the tenant fixes the problem inside the cure window, the tenancy continues and there is no holdover to pursue. If the violation persists, the landlord then serves the termination notice ending the tenancy on a specific date. Skipping the cure notice when one is required is one of the fastest ways to lose. Courts treat that step as a substantive right of the tenant, not a formality.
What the Notice Has to Say
A holdover notice missing key details will not survive a challenge. At a minimum, the document should include:
- The full names of every adult occupant, including any known subtenants
- The exact property address, with apartment number, floor, or other identifier that removes ambiguity
- The specific date the tenancy ends, calculated to comply with RPL 226-c
- The grounds for termination, described in factual detail when the eviction is based on anything other than a simple lease expiration, including dates and specific conduct
Vague grounds are the most common drafting mistake. Saying a tenant “violated the lease” without pointing to the provision, the dates, and the conduct will not hold up against a motion to dismiss. Official forms are available through the New York State Unified Court System.1New York State Unified Court System. Landlord’s Guide to Holdover Eviction Proceedings
In areas covered by the good cause eviction law, the notice must also identify the specific good cause ground the landlord is relying on and carry the disclosures required by RPL Section 231-c.6New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 231-C
Good Cause Eviction Limits the Reasons You Can Use
New York’s Good Cause Eviction Law took effect on April 20, 2024, and it changes what a holdover notice can be built on in covered areas. Where the law applies, a landlord can no longer decline to renew a lease or terminate a month-to-month tenancy without a legally recognized reason. The law covers New York City and a growing list of municipalities that have opted in, including Albany, Rochester, Ithaca, Kingston, Poughkeepsie, Beacon, and Newburgh.7New York Attorney General. New York State Good Cause Eviction Law
In those places, the landlord has to prove one of the recognized grounds: nonpayment of rent, violation of a substantial lease obligation, nuisance, illegal use of the unit, refusing reasonable access for repairs, or turning down a reasonable renewal offer. The law also allows eviction when the owner needs the unit for personal use, plans to demolish the building, or intends to permanently remove the unit from the rental market.7New York Attorney General. New York State Good Cause Eviction Law
Several categories of housing are exempt: small landlords generally owning ten or fewer units, owner-occupied buildings with ten or fewer units, rent-regulated apartments, income-restricted housing, condos and co-ops, and buildings that received a certificate of occupancy on or after January 1, 2009, among others.6New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 231-C Any holdover petition filed in a covered area must state whether the premises fall under the law and, if the landlord is claiming an exemption, which one and why.8New York State Senate. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 741
How to Serve the Notice
How the notice reaches the tenant matters as much as what it says. For residential tenancies in New York City, RPL 232-a requires service in the same manner as a notice of petition in a summary proceeding.2New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 232-A RPAPL Section 735 sets out three acceptable methods:
- Personal delivery, handing the papers directly to the tenant
- Substituted service, leaving the papers with a person of suitable age and discretion at the property and then mailing copies by both certified and regular first-class mail within one day
- Conspicuous place service, posting the papers on the door or sliding them under it when no one will answer, and then mailing copies by both certified and regular first-class mail within one day
The follow-up mailings after substituted or conspicuous service are not optional. Proof of service has to be filed with the court within three days of personal delivery, or within three days of mailing when one of the alternative methods is used.9New York State Senate. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 735
Do Not Accept Rent After Serving
Landlords sabotage their own holdover cases here more than anywhere else. Accepting rent from a tenant after serving a holdover notice can create a new tenancy and waive the termination. Courts have consistently treated rent acceptance as evidence that the landlord agreed to let the tenant stay, which sends the notice process back to the start.
Once the notice is served, stop taking money from the tenant. Do not cash a mailed check. Disable online-portal access or return payments immediately. A single accepted payment can undo months of preparation.
Rent-Stabilized Tenants Follow Different Rules
Holdover proceedings against rent-stabilized tenants in New York City run under a separate set of constraints. A landlord cannot simply let a rent-stabilized lease expire and refuse to renew. The Rent Stabilization Law limits nonrenewal to specific situations, such as the owner’s need for personal occupancy.
When pursuing an owner-occupancy holdover against a rent-stabilized tenant, the nonrenewal notice must be served at least 90 days and no more than 150 days before the current lease expires. Even then, the landlord cannot evict a rent-stabilized tenant if the tenant or the tenant’s spouse is 62 or older, has lived in the building for 15 years or more, or is disabled, unless the landlord offers an equivalent apartment at the same or lower rent in a nearby area.10New York State Homes and Community Renewal. Fact Sheet – Eviction From an Apartment Based on Owner Occupancy If you are on either side of one of these cases, the deadlines and protections both run higher than for a market-rate tenancy, and they generally warrant legal representation.
Defenses That Defeat Holdover Cases
Tenants have several defenses that regularly succeed, and landlords who do not anticipate them lose cases they expected to win.
The most common is defective notice. If the predicate notice was served improperly, arrived late, named the wrong people, gave an incorrect termination date, or failed to describe the grounds with enough specificity, the court will dismiss. The landlord can start over, but the notice clock resets to zero.
Retaliatory eviction is another. New York law prohibits landlords from evicting tenants in retaliation for good-faith complaints about housing code violations, exercising rights under the lease or the warranty of habitability, or participating in tenant-organizing activities. When the holdover is filed within one year of any of those actions, the court presumes retaliation and puts the burden on the landlord to rebut it.11New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 223-B
A warranty-of-habitability defense argues that the landlord has failed to keep the unit livable. It will not always block the eviction outright, but it can create counterclaims and settlement leverage.
Waiver comes up when the landlord accepted rent after the termination notice or otherwise behaved as if the tenancy was continuing. The tenant argues the landlord gave up the right to proceed on that notice, and the case has to be refiled from the beginning.