1. Tenant Rights in Cases of
Eviction in New York
By Donald Harwood, Attorney

2. Introduction
• Attorney Donald Harwood serves as a principal and
founding member of New York law firm Harwood
Reiff, LLC. Possessing more than 30 years of
appellate and trial experience, Donald Harwood has
handled such matters as white-collar defense and
civil litigation throughout his career as an attorney,
and he currently focuses his practice on real estate
and landlord-tenant litigation.
In the state of New York, tenants can be evicted for
various reasons, such as owing rent.

3. Tenant Rights
• Month-to-month tenants can also be evicted if they
receive a month’s notice to vacate the property, and
tenants with a written lease can be evicted if they
have violated any of their lease’s terms. If there are
no violations or late rent payments, they cannot be
evicted during their lease period. Landlords must
give tenants formal notice of their plans to pursue
an eviction, and the process can continue if tenants
do not appear in court following the receipt of any
legal petitions sent by the landlord.
When a landlord plans to pursue eviction, they must
go to court and win a Warrant of Eviction.

4. Conclusion
• Tenants must be served two papers by the landlord
indicating the time, date, and place of the court
hearing along with the reason for eviction. Any
attempt by the landlord to evict a tenant without
going to court is illegal. Even if tenants owe rent or
have reached the end of their lease, they cannot be
evicted through such activities as turning off
electricity or water, changing the locks, or removing
their furniture from the property. Should any of
these occur, tenants have the right to call local
authorities and explain that their landlord has
attempted to remove them from their apartment
without a Warrant of Eviction.