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New York StateUnified Court System

Holdover Proceedings

If you want to bring your tenant to court to recover possession of the property, you may begin a "holdover" proceeding:
A holdover proceeding is brought by a landlord to remove a tenant from possession for a reason other than non-payment of rent. Before beginning a holdover proceeding, the landlord must end the tenancy. This may require one or more notices to the tenant. Because these notices must be carefully planned, you may wish to contact a lawyer for more information.

After the preliminary notices have been served, you may file your petition and notice of petition with the court. The petition and notice of petition forms may be purchased at any stationery store that sells legal forms. They must be filled out properly since failure to do so may result in dismissal of the case. Once the forms are filled out, they must be brought to the landlord & tenant clerk's office in the county in which the building is located.

You must select a date for a hearing, no less than five days and no more than twelve days from the time of completion of service. You must inform the clerk of the date you have selected. You must pay a filing fee in cash or by certified check or money order to obtain an index number, and then have the petition and notice of petition served on the tenant.

Serving The Papers.
A copy of the petition and notice of petition must be served by someone over the age of 18 who is not a party to the action. You may hire a process server to serve the papers. You can get the name of a process server from the yellow pages. For further information on service, you may refer to the real property actions and proceedings law, also called the rpapl, section 735.

What happens after the papers are served.
After the papers have been served, the original notice of petition for non-payment and the completed affidavit of service, located on the back of the notice of petition, must be returned to the court clerk within three days.

On the date of the hearing you must appear at the assigned time and place. You must be able to proceed with your claim at that time. If the tenant appears, you will both be sent to a judge for a hearing on your claim.

If the tenant does not appear, you will go before the judge who will hold an inquest either at that time or at a later date. If you are successful in your claim, the judge will issue a judgment in your favor. This judgment may allow the eviction of the tenant. The eviction may be done only by a city marshal whom you must contact yourself. To find the name of a marshal, look in the yellow pages of the telephone book, under city marshal.

If you have already served a petition and notice of petition, and now need a judgment and a warrant.
There are two situations in which a landlord can get a judgment:

1. If a tenant does not answer the petition, the landlord may get a judgment, and a warrant of eviction. You must first contact a city marshal. To find the name of a city marshal, look in the yellow pages under the heading, city marshal. The marshal will submit a request for the judgment and warrant to the court clerk at the same time.
2. If you appeared in court and received a judgment in your favor, you must contact a marshal. The marshal will request the court to issue the warrant.

In all cases, a warrant for eviction can be issued only to a marshal. If you have already contacted a marshal and wish to know the status of the warrant, you must call that marshal. The marshal will take care of the service of the 72-hour notice and will evict the respondent if necessary.