Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in New York

Re: Tenant

Both the attorneys are somewhat correct. Firstly it depends on whether there is a lease or not and the provisions of that lease. You may be able to initiate a nonpayment proceeding but that would only be effecive if the tenant defaulted and did not appear or did not raise the illegality as a defense. If he does show up you could have a problem and Mr. Markowitz woudl be correct so it woudl probably be advisable to terminate the tenancy and start a holdover proceeding. As NY State has very strict notice provisions it highly advisable to retain the services of an experienced lawyer in this area. We have substantial experience handling these types of cases, however, we would need some more information before making a complete and proper determination. You are welcome to contact us for a free consultation.

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Re: Tenant

You need to serve him with a notice of non-payment and then follow that up with a non-payment petition.

If you would like a lawyer to handle this for you, please contact my office 9142201088.

Re: Tenant

Mr. Kessler's advice is absolutely wrong.

The Court will not uphold an illegal contract. Since the tenant is illegally renting the property, the Court will not enforce the contract, and will not enforce payment.

You would have to serve a thirty-day notice to terminate the residency and than start an eviction proceeding based on a holdover tenant (not a non-payment proceeding).

Mike.