If you stay in your New York City apartment after your lease ends or after your landlord’s termination notice deadline passes, you become a holdover tenant. Your landlord cannot change the locks, shut off utilities, or move your things to the curb. To remove you, they have to serve proper written notice, file a holdover proceeding in Housing Court, win a judgment of possession, and then have a city marshal execute a warrant of eviction.1New York State Homes and Community Renewal. Eviction Depending on how the case moves, that can take anywhere from a few weeks to many months.
How You Become a Holdover
There are two common paths. The first is a fixed-term lease that runs out with no renewal signed, and you stay past the last day. The second is a termination notice from the landlord citing a specific reason — a lease violation, nuisance behavior, or another recognized ground — followed by you remaining past the deadline in that notice.
Once that deadline passes, the landlord-tenant relationship is broken. One detail matters here: if your landlord keeps taking your rent after that point, they may accidentally create a new month-to-month tenancy and reset the clock. Careful landlords either refuse the money or label it “use and occupancy” instead of rent.
The Notice Your Landlord Must Give First
No holdover case can start without proper written notice. For month-to-month residential tenancies in New York City, Real Property Law Section 232-a requires that termination notice be served the same way court papers are served.2New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 232-a The length of the notice depends on how long you’ve lived in the unit:3New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 226-c
- Under one year of occupancy or lease term: at least 30 days.
- One to two years: at least 60 days.
- More than two years: at least 90 days.
Whichever is longer between your actual time in the apartment and your lease term controls. Someone with a one-year lease who has been there 18 months gets 60 days, not 30. The notice must clearly say the landlord is ending the tenancy and give the exact date you must be out. Vague or ambiguous notices are one of the most common reasons holdover cases get dismissed.
What the Court Petition Must Say
Once the notice period runs, the landlord can file a holdover petition. Under Section 741 of the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law, the petition must describe the property, identify the landlord’s interest in it, state your relationship to the premises, and lay out the facts behind the case.4New York State Senate. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 741 It has to name every respondent, describe the apartment precisely enough that a marshal could find it, and state the grounds for the holdover.
Since 2024, every NYC holdover petition must also state whether the unit is covered by the Good Cause Eviction law. If the landlord claims an exemption, the petition has to explain which one and why.4New York State Senate. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 741 Skipping that disclosure is a frequent basis for dismissal.
The petition must be verified — sworn to under oath — and served on you through one of three methods under Section 735: personal delivery, substitute service on someone of suitable age and discretion at the apartment, or attachment to the door when no one answers.5FindLaw. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 735 For the second and third methods, copies also have to be mailed to you by certified and regular first-class mail within one day. If your landlord skips a step, the court may lack jurisdiction and the case can be thrown out.
Defenses You Can Raise
Getting served does not mean you’re getting evicted. Housing Court judges look closely at the landlord’s paperwork, and tenants have several recognized defenses.
Procedural Defects
The most common and often the most effective defense is that the landlord did not follow the required procedures. A termination notice that was too short, improperly served, or too vague can end the case before the merits are ever reached. The same is true for service of the petition itself. If the process server did not follow the statutory methods, the court doesn’t have jurisdiction over you.
Waiver
If the landlord knew about a lease violation for a long time and kept taking rent anyway, you can argue they waived the right to act on it. This shows up often when the alleged violation has been going on for months or years before the landlord suddenly files. Courts look skeptically at landlords who sit on known issues and then use them later.
Retaliation
New York law recognizes retaliatory eviction as a defense. If you recently complained to a government agency about conditions in the building or helped organize a tenant association, and the holdover was filed soon after, the court can find retaliation. Timing carries weight — a petition filed shortly after a 311 call about no heat raises obvious questions, and the landlord then has to show a legitimate, non-retaliatory reason.
Disability Accommodation
The federal Fair Housing Act requires landlords to consider reasonable accommodations for tenants with disabilities before moving forward with eviction. If your disability contributed to the alleged lease violation, you may be entitled to extra time to come into compliance or another accommodation. You have to request it, and it can’t create an undue burden on the landlord, but a refusal even to consider the request is itself a defense.
Extra Protection for Rent-Stabilized and Good Cause Tenants
If your apartment is rent-stabilized, your landlord faces a much higher bar. Stabilized tenants have the right to a lease renewal, so a landlord can’t just let the lease expire and refuse to renew. Valid grounds for refusing renewal are narrow: the unit isn’t your primary residence, the landlord wants it for personal or immediate family use, or the building is being demolished.1New York State Homes and Community Renewal. Eviction Otherwise, a holdover against a stabilized tenant usually has to prove a substantial lease violation or nuisance behavior. The petition also has to correctly state the unit’s regulatory status, and getting that wrong frequently leads to dismissal.
Since 2024, New York’s Good Cause Eviction law (Real Property Law Article 6-A) extends similar protections to many market-rate tenants.6New York State Attorney General. New York State Good Cause Eviction Law If your unit is covered, the landlord can’t remove you without a qualifying reason such as nonpayment, a lease violation, or nuisance. Wanting a higher-paying tenant is not a qualifying reason.
Not every apartment is covered. Key exemptions include buildings where the landlord owns ten or fewer residential units statewide, owner-occupied buildings with ten or fewer units, rent-regulated apartments (which have their own protections), units renting above an annually published threshold, buildings with a certificate of occupancy issued on or after January 1, 2009, and condos, co-ops, and subsidized housing.6New York State Attorney General. New York State Good Cause Eviction Law If a landlord claims the small-landlord exemption through an LLC, the petition has to disclose all owners, how many units each owns, and the addresses.7New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 231-c
What Happens in Court
Most holdover cases never reach trial. At the first appearance, the judge or a court attorney usually sends both sides into the hallway to negotiate. The result is often a stipulation, a written agreement signed by both parties and approved by the judge. Typical terms include a move-out date 30 to 90 days out, a promise by the landlord to vacate the judgment if you leave on time, and sometimes a payment plan for anything you owe.
A stipulation is a binding court order. If you agree to leave by a certain date and don’t, the landlord can go straight to a warrant of eviction with no new trial. If you realize you cannot meet a stipulation deadline, go back to court and file an Order to Show Cause asking the judge to modify it before the deadline passes, not after.
If the case doesn’t settle, it goes to a bench trial. The landlord carries the burden of proving every element. The judge reviews the predicate notices, the service of process, the grounds for the holdover, and any defenses you raise. If the landlord wins, the court enters a judgment of possession and issues a warrant of eviction.
What You Owe While You Stay
Even without a lease, you owe money for living in the apartment during the case. This is called “use and occupancy,” and it generally equals the fair market rental value. Landlords routinely ask the court for interim payments while the case is pending.4New York State Senate. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 741
For rent-stabilized tenants, use and occupancy is usually the legal regulated rent. For market-rate tenants, the landlord may argue for current market value, which can be higher than what you were paying. Falling behind on these payments weakens your position and makes judges less willing to grant stays or extensions later.
After a Judgment: The Warrant and the Marshal
A judgment of possession by itself doesn’t put you on the street. The court issues a warrant of eviction directed to a city marshal, and the warrant states the earliest date the eviction can be carried out.8New York State Senate. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 749 The marshal must then serve you with a written Notice of Eviction and wait at least 14 calendar days before executing the warrant.9NYC Department of Investigation. Marshals Evictions FAQ
The marshal tries to hand the notice to you or leave it with someone of suitable age at the apartment. If that fails, the notice goes on the door and copies are mailed by certified and regular mail. Evictions can only be carried out on business days between sunrise and sunset.8New York State Senate. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 749 If the marshal doesn’t execute the warrant within 30 days of the earliest eligible date, a new Notice of Eviction has to be served before proceeding.9NYC Department of Investigation. Marshals Evictions FAQ
Even after the warrant issues, the court can stay or vacate it for good cause. If you need more time because of a medical emergency, a pending housing application, or school-age children, you can file an Order to Show Cause asking the judge to delay execution. Stays aren’t guaranteed, but judges grant them regularly when the circumstances justify it.
Free Legal Representation If You Qualify
New York City’s Right to Counsel law provides free lawyers to tenants facing eviction in Housing Court if household income is at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, roughly $30,000 for a single person or $62,000 for a family of four. Tenants aged 60 and older also qualify. The program covers holdover cases along with nonpayment and NYCHA termination proceedings.
The program is stretched thin, and there isn’t always an available attorney for every eligible tenant. But having a lawyer changes the case. Represented tenants catch procedural defects more often, raise viable defenses more effectively, and negotiate better stipulations. If you may qualify, ask the court clerk about assignment at your first appearance rather than waiting.
If You Are on Active Military Duty
The federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act adds protections for tenants on active duty. A landlord generally cannot evict a servicemember or their dependents from a primary residence without a court order, and the court can stay the eviction or adjust lease obligations.10United States Courts. Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) These protections apply during active duty and generally extend up to 90 days after discharge. If you receive a holdover petition while on active duty, raise your military status right away — the court is required to appoint an attorney for you if you can’t appear, and it cannot enter a default judgment against you without doing so.
How a Holdover Case Can Follow You
A holdover proceeding creates a Housing Court record, and tenant screening companies pull that data into background reports future landlords review. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, negative information from civil court cases, including housing court filings, generally cannot be reported after seven years.11Federal Trade Commission. Tenant Background Checks and Your Rights
If a screening report is inaccurate or outdated, you can dispute it. The screening company generally has 30 days to investigate. If your rental application is denied based on a report, the landlord must give you an adverse action notice identifying the company and explaining how to challenge it.12Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Should I Do if My Rental Application Is Denied Because of a Tenant Screening Report New York’s 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act also prohibits landlords from denying a rental application solely based on a Housing Court record, though enforcement of that provision has been inconsistent.