Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New York

You have rented it. You have received one month's rent and a month's security. If you try to keep them out, they can sue you and you will be in very serious dutch. The fact thart there is no lease indicates that you're thinking you can renege on the deal. I would happily represent the tenants in this case: by the time I was done, the tenants would end up owning the house.

You made a deal. If the tenant can't pay the rent, evict them for nonpayment. But in the absence of a written lease, you really have no defense to allowing them in. Presumably they have something--a cancelled check, a receipt. And lying in landlord-tenant court has been known (depending on the judge) in the liar ending up in jail for contempt of court. Not a good strategy to follow.