Evicting a commercial tenant in New York generally takes two to four months from the first notice to the tenant’s physical removal when the case is uncontested. Once the tenant fights the case, files a Yellowstone injunction, or files for bankruptcy, six months is a more realistic figure, and complex disputes run longer. The timeline is built from three phases with mandatory waiting periods that cannot be shortened, plus whatever delays the tenant and the court’s calendar add on top.
Timeline by Scenario
The single biggest variable is whether the tenant contests the case. The second is which delay tools, if any, the tenant reaches for. Here is what each common situation typically looks like from the day the landlord serves the first notice to the day the marshal or sheriff completes the eviction.
Uncontested Nonpayment
Roughly six to eight weeks. The 14-day rent demand runs first, then about 10 days to the first court date, then a 14-day notice from the marshal or sheriff before the physical eviction. If the tenant never appears and the court calendar cooperates, the landlord can regain possession inside two months.
Contested Nonpayment
Three to five months is common in a busy New York City court. The tenant’s answer, adjournment requests, and a trial date all stack onto the base timeline. Court congestion is often the largest single factor.
Holdover After Lease Expiration
Similar overall length to nonpayment cases, sometimes slightly slower. Holdover trials tend to involve more factually contested issues, which can mean additional hearings.
Lease Violation With a Yellowstone Injunction
Add four to six months, or more. A Yellowstone injunction is unique to New York commercial leases: when a tenant receives a notice to cure and files in Supreme Court before the cure period expires, the cure period freezes while the court decides whether the alleged violation actually exists. The eviction cannot proceed until that underlying dispute is resolved. Courts grant these injunctions routinely when the tenant meets the requirements, so any eviction based on a lease violation should be planned around this possibility.
Tenant Bankruptcy
One to three months added at minimum, and often more. The moment the tenant files, an automatic stay under 11 USC 362 halts the eviction, and the landlord cannot continue proceedings, enforce a judgment, or take any action to recover the property without bankruptcy court permission. The landlord must petition for relief from stay; if the court doesn’t act within 30 days of the request, the stay automatically lifts for that landlord. There is one narrow exception: if the lease already expired at the end of its stated calendar term before the bankruptcy was filed, the stay does not apply.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay A landlord who terminated the lease early for default generally cannot use this exception, because an early termination for breach is not the same as expiration of the stated term. Chapter 11 reorganizations can stretch the delay further.
The Three Phases That Make Up Every Timeline
No matter the scenario, the clock runs through the same three phases. Knowing where the weeks come from makes the overall estimate less abstract.
Phase One: Predicate Notice
Before any court filing, the landlord must serve the correct predicate notice. For nonpayment, that is a written 14-day demand to pay or vacate, served using the same methods required for court papers. For a lease violation, the landlord serves a notice to cure (the length of the cure period is set by the lease, commonly 10 to 15 days), and if the tenant doesn’t cure, a notice of termination follows. For a fixed-term lease that has run out, no separate predicate notice is required to bring a holdover proceeding.2New York State Senate. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 711 Month-to-month tenancies are different: in New York City, the landlord must give at least 30 days’ written notice before the end of a monthly term,3New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 232-a – Notice to Terminate Monthly Tenancy or Tenancy From Month to Month in the City of New York and outside the city, at least one month’s notice before the term expires.4New York Public Law. New York Real Property Law Section 232-B Accepting rent after a fixed-term lease expires without a new agreement converts the tenancy to month-to-month and triggers these notice rules.5New York State Senate. New York Code Real Property Law 232-c – Holding Over by a Tenant After Expiration of a Term Longer Than One Month
Skipping this phase or serving the notice incorrectly is the single most common way commercial eviction cases get dismissed, which resets the whole timeline.
Phase Two: Court Proceedings
After the predicate period runs, the landlord files a Notice of Petition and Petition. In New York City, commercial evictions go to Civil Court; outside the city, to the local District, City, Town, or Village Court where the property sits. Cases with money judgments above Civil Court’s cap may need Supreme Court instead.
Service on the tenant follows strict rules under RPAPL 735, and proof of service must be filed with the court within three days of personal delivery or within three days of the follow-up mailings.6New York State Senate. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 735 – Manner of Service, Filing, When Service Complete The first court date in a nonpayment case must be within 10 days of service.7New York State Senate. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 732 In a holdover, the papers must be served at least 10 and no more than 17 days before the hearing.8New York State Senate. New York Code RPA 733 – Time of Service Court congestion often pushes actual dates past these statutory minimums.
Many cases settle at the first appearance, often with a stipulation setting a final deadline to pay or vacate. Default judgments are available when the tenant doesn’t appear and the paperwork is in order. Contested cases move to trial. If the landlord wins, the court issues a judgment of possession. One point that works in the landlord’s favor: commercial tenants are not eligible for discretionary stays of the eviction warrant under RPAPL 753, which applies only to dwellings.9New York State Senate. New York Code RPA 753
Phase Three: Warrant Execution
A judgment of possession is not permission to change the locks. The landlord must obtain a warrant of eviction, and only a City Marshal or deputy sheriff (in New York City) or the County Sheriff (outside the city) can carry it out.10NYC Department of Investigation. Marshals Evictions Frequently Asked Questions The marshal or sheriff must give the tenant at least 14 days’ written notice to vacate, and the physical eviction must happen on a business day between sunrise and sunset. In nonpayment cases, the tenant can stop the eviction by paying the full amount owed any time before the warrant is executed, unless the court finds bad-faith withholding.11New York State Senate. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 749 – Warrant
Even after the 14-day notice runs, scheduling the marshal or sheriff typically adds another two to four weeks, and more during high-demand periods.
What Stretches the Timeline
Four factors do most of the work of turning a two-month case into a six-month one.
Court backlog. New York City’s Civil Court handles a very large volume of cases, and hearing dates that should be a week or two out sometimes get pushed to a month or more. Courts outside the city generally move faster, but local caseloads vary.
Service errors. If the 14-day rent demand wasn’t served using the proper methods, or the notice of petition wasn’t filed within three days of service, the case gets dismissed and the landlord starts over.6New York State Senate. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 735 – Manner of Service, Filing, When Service Complete Using a professional process server and double-checking compliance is worth the modest cost.
Tenant delay tactics. Beyond Yellowstone injunctions and bankruptcy, a tenant can request adjournments, file counterclaims, or raise procedural defenses. Each successful motion can push the next hearing out by weeks. Courts can limit frivolous delays but will give tenants reasonable opportunities to be heard.
Marshal and sheriff availability. The final step often adds two to four weeks after the mandatory 14-day notice, depending on demand.
Self-Help Is Not a Shortcut
Faced with a months-long process, some landlords think about changing locks, shutting off utilities, or removing a tenant’s belongings. New York’s criminal statute against unlawful evictions technically applies only to dwellings, not purely commercial spaces.12New York State Attorney General. Unlawful Evictions – RPAPL Section 768 That gap does not make self-help safe. A commercial tenant locked out without a court order can seek an emergency court order restoring possession and sue for damages. Landlords who try to save time with a lockout often end up further behind than if they had run the summary proceeding from the start.