Under RPAPL 711(2), a New York landlord can start a nonpayment eviction only when three things are true: a landlord-tenant relationship already exists, the tenant has actually defaulted on rent owed under that arrangement, and the landlord has served a proper 14-day written demand giving the tenant the choice to pay or move out.1New York State Senate. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 711 – Grounds Where Landlord-Tenant Relationship Exists Since April 2024, that demand also has to carry a Good Cause Eviction disclosure, and old forms that leave it out are getting cases dismissed.
The Three Elements a Landlord Must Prove
The relationship can be a written lease, a verbal month-to-month tenancy, or a holdover where the tenant stayed past the lease term and kept paying. If the lease has expired, the tenant usually remains liable for use and occupancy at the prior rent, and a nonpayment case can proceed on that continuing obligation.
The person named in the petition has to be the party actually responsible for rent. A roommate who is not on the lease is not the right respondent, even if that roommate is the one who stopped paying. The case runs against the tenant of record.
The default itself has to be for rent. Not late fees, not utility charges, not attorney fees. That distinction runs through every stage of a 711(2) case and is where many petitions unravel.
The 14-Day Rent Demand
No nonpayment case can start without the demand. The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 replaced the older three-day oral or written demand with a mandatory 14-day written notice.2New York State Senate. New Rights for Tenants: Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 The demand must state exactly how much rent is owed, identify the months it covers, and warn the tenant that the landlord will file an eviction case if the full amount is not paid within 14 days.
Only actual rent belongs in the demand. Late fees, attorney fees, utilities, and any other charge a lease labels “additional rent” cannot be included. Padding the demand with those amounts risks dismissal of the entire case.3New York State Office of the Attorney General. Changes in New York State Rent Law The landlord can still pursue those charges as a separate money claim, but they cannot support taking possession of the apartment.
For rent-stabilized or rent-controlled units, the “rent” a landlord can demand is the legally registered amount on file with the Division of Housing and Community Renewal. If the demand rests on an illegal overcharge, the tenant can raise it as a defense and get the petition dismissed or the amount reduced.
The Good Cause Eviction Notice Added in 2024
Since 2024, the demand must also include a notice under Real Property Law Section 231-c disclosing whether the unit is covered by New York’s Good Cause Eviction Law. If the unit is exempt, the notice has to say why. If the landlord is refusing to renew a covered tenant’s lease, it has to state the lawful basis. And if the landlord is raising rent above the local rent standard on a covered unit, the notice has to justify the increase.1New York State Senate. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 711 – Grounds Where Landlord-Tenant Relationship Exists
The Good Cause Eviction Law took effect on April 20, 2024. In a nonpayment case, a tenant in a covered unit can defend on the ground that the rent demanded reflects a presumptively unreasonable increase. An increase is presumptively unreasonable when it exceeds 5 percent of the prior rent plus the annual change in the Consumer Price Index, with a hard cap at 10 percent.4New York State Office of the Attorney General. New York State Good Cause Eviction Law The landlord then has to justify the higher figure.
Coverage is not universal. Properties already subject to rent regulation, co-ops, condos, small-landlord buildings, and units with certificates of occupancy issued within the past 30 years are among the categories that may be exempt.5New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 231-C – Good Cause Eviction Law Notice The New York Courts system publishes a fillable demand form that incorporates the RPL 231-c disclosure. Landlords using older forms without it are inviting a motion to dismiss.
How the Demand Must Be Served
RPAPL 711(2) requires service using the methods in RPAPL 735, tried in order:
- Personal delivery. Hand the demand directly to the tenant.
- Substituted service. If the tenant is not at the property, leave a copy with a person of suitable age and discretion who lives or works there, and within one day mail copies by both certified (or registered) mail and regular first-class mail.
- Conspicuous-place service. If no one will accept the papers, affix a copy to a visible part of the premises or slip it under the entrance door, and within one day mail copies by certified and regular mail.6FindLaw. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law RPA 735 – Manner of Service; Filing; When Service Complete
Proof of service is critical. Without an affidavit showing how and when the demand was served, the court will dismiss the case before touching the merits. Many self-represented landlords lose here: they delivered a demand but cannot prove it.
Filing the Petition
Once the 14 days pass without full payment, the landlord files a Notice of Petition and a Petition. In New York City, that means Housing Court. Elsewhere, it is usually the local city, town, or village court with jurisdiction over the property. The petition sets out how much rent is owed, which months it covers, and that a proper demand was served.
The tenant has 10 days from service to answer. The answer can raise breach of the warranty of habitability, disputes over the amount owed, improper service, or the demand’s failure to comply with current notice rules. Without a timely answer, the court can enter a default judgment for the landlord.7New York State Senate. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 732
On the return date, the parties appear before a judge or court attorney. Most nonpayment cases settle by stipulation, giving the tenant a set number of months to pay arrears in installments. If no agreement is reached, the case is set for trial, which moves faster than an ordinary civil suit because this is a summary proceeding.
What a Possessory Judgment Can Cover
A possessory judgment, the order that ultimately leads to eviction, can rest only on unpaid rent. It cannot rest on late fees, legal costs, utilities, or any amount the lease calls “additional rent.”2New York State Senate. New Rights for Tenants: Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 Those amounts can still be pursued as a separate money judgment.
The Warrant and the Tenant’s Right to Pay
Winning at trial or by default does not mean the tenant is out. Two statutes give the tenant meaningful chances to cure.
Under RPAPL 751, a tenant can stop the warrant of eviction from issuing at all by depositing the full rent owed, plus proceeding costs, with the court clerk, or by posting an undertaking to pay within 10 days.8New York State Senate. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 751 The right exists anytime before the warrant issues.
Once the warrant issues, a city marshal or county sheriff must give the tenant at least 14 days’ written notice before physically evicting. Execution can happen only on a business day between sunrise and sunset.9New York State Senate. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 749 – Warrant
Even at this late stage, the court must vacate the warrant if the tenant pays the full rent due before the marshal or sheriff actually executes it, unless the landlord proves the tenant withheld rent in bad faith.9New York State Senate. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 749 – Warrant A judgment of possession does not guarantee a physical eviction if the tenant finds the money in time.
Federal Rules That Can Override the State Case
Three federal frameworks can stop or delay a 711(2) case that would otherwise be straightforward.
Active-Duty Military Tenants
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protects active-duty military members and their dependents from eviction from a residence with monthly rent at or below $10,542.60 (the 2026 adjusted threshold) without a court order.10Federal Register. Notice of Publication of Housing Price Inflation Adjustment Where military service materially affects the servicemember’s ability to pay, the court must stay the proceeding for at least 90 days on request and can adjust the lease obligation.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3951 – Evictions and Distress
Before granting a default judgment in any nonpayment case, the court requires the landlord to file an affidavit stating whether the tenant is in military service. Filing a false affidavit is a federal violation.12United States Department of Justice. Property Management Company to Pay $60,000 to Servicemember for False Affidavit
Bankruptcy
If the tenant files for bankruptcy before the landlord obtains a judgment of possession, the automatic stay freezes the case. The landlord has to ask the bankruptcy court to lift the stay before continuing.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
If the landlord already has a judgment of possession, the stay generally does not block eviction. A tenant can still pause it by filing a certification stating they can cure the full monetary default and depositing any rent that comes due within 30 days of filing, then paying the entire arrears within 30 days and certifying the cure. Failing that, the eviction proceeds.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
Federally Subsidized Housing
Tenants in public housing and Project-Based Rental Assistance properties get an additional layer of notice. Federal rules currently require the housing authority or PBRA owner to give at least 30 days’ written notice before filing a nonpayment eviction, on top of the 14-day state demand. HUD proposed rescinding the 30-day requirement, but the change was converted to a proposed rule with public comment open through April 27, 2026, and the existing 30-day notice requirement remains in effect until further action.14Federal Register. Revocation of the 30-Day Notification Requirement Prior to Termination of Lease for Nonpayment of Rent Skipping the federal notice in subsidized housing risks dismissal for failure to exhaust required pre-filing procedures.