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How far behind in rent do we have to be before the landlond starts the eviction process in NYC?
Anonymous2 views3 answers
We were 2 months behind, but have started paying almost a half months rent each week to get caught up. They just sent us a letter sayig we have 3 days to either pay in full or surrender the apartment. Can they do this?
You are behind on your rent, so they can in fact, evict you. At your first court date, you'll seek an adjournment to hire an attorney. Hopefully, by the second court date, you'll be paid in full, and the proceeding will be dropped. They are accepting your additional rent payments, and presumably, they will continue to do so. If they reject any of the payments you make then you need to immediately meet with an attorney.
In nearly all states yes--payment in full by the due date is the requirement--anything short of full payment is grounds for initiating the eviction process.
See attached for NY state landlord tenant laws: http://www.dhcr.state.ny.us/Rent/
FYI--many tenants do not 'pay or quit' within the timeline offered--the result will be the landlord will commence the eviction process--a court supervised process--which takes several weeks to complete. So you do have time to negotiate with your landlord, come up with all the rent money that is in arrears, or find new quarters.
Recommend you speak with a NYC landlord tenant attorney and discuss your specific circumstances. NYC has a more complex LL-Tenant scheme than many other locations. It is possible the local attorney can work with you and your landlord and devise a solution that keeps the landlord happy and you in your apartment.
Also consider reviewing the following links for additional information: http://www.housingnyc.com/html/resources/attygenguide.html, http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/tenants/faqs-for-tenants.shtml, http://www.megalaw.com/ny/top/nylandlord.php
