Housing & Real Estate Reviewed 2026-08-22
How an eviction moves through NYC Housing Court
A nonpayment case cannot even be filed until the landlord serves a written 14-day rent demand, and after a judgment the marshal must serve a separate notice and wait at least 14 more days before changing the locks, so an eviction in New York runs on a fixed clock, not a single court date. The petition, the 10-day answer window, the trial, the warrant, and the marshal's notice each open a chance to stop the case, and tenants at or under 200% of the federal poverty line, or 60 or older, get a lawyer for free.
The numbers that matter
- The rent demand
- A written demand for the rent, giving at least 14 days' notice, must be served before a nonpayment case can be filed (RPAPL § 711(2), NY State Senate, read August 2026)
- The answer
- 10 days to answer a nonpayment petition after receiving the notice of petition; the clerk then sets trial for 3 to 8 days later (NY Courts, Answering a Case in NYC Housing Court, read August 2026)
- The marshal's notice
- At least 14 days' written notice from the marshal before an eviction; nycourts.gov states the eviction may occur on or after the 15th day after that notice is served (NY Courts, NYC Housing Court Eviction, read August 2026)
- The warrant
- Issued once judgment is entered; the officer executing it must still give at least 14 days' written notice and can act only on a business day between sunrise and sunset (RPAPL § 749, NY State Senate, read August 2026)
- Paying stops it
- A nonpayment warrant is vacated if the tenant pays or deposits the full rent due with the court before the marshal executes it, unless the landlord proves the tenant withheld it in bad faith (RPAPL § 749(3), NY State Senate, read August 2026)
- The free lawyer
- Full legal representation for any income-eligible tenant, meaning 60 or older or at household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, under Local Law 136 of 2017 (NYC Administrative Code § 26-1301, read August 2026)
It starts with a notice, not a lock change
New York law does not let a landlord change the locks first and settle the paperwork afterward. Every eviction case, whether it is over unpaid rent or something else, starts with a written notice and, if it goes all the way, ends with a second written notice from a marshal. In between sits a fixed sequence of deadlines, and a tenant who answers nothing at any of them is the only way the case moves quickly.
Before the case can be started, the landlord or someone working for the landlord, must demand the overdue rent from the tenant and warn the tenant that if the rent is not paid, the tenant can be evicted. The demand must be in writing and must be delivered to the tenant at least 14 days before the court case is started.
New York treats its two common kinds of case differently. A nonpayment case is only about rent already owed, and paying what is owed in full generally ends it, even after judgment (more on that below). A holdover case is about something else: an expired lease, a lease violation, or an occupant who was never a tenant at all, and it cannot be resolved just by writing a check. The rent demand above belongs to a nonpayment case; the underlying rule is written into the law itself:
The tenant has defaulted in the payment of rent, pursuant to the agreement under which the premises are held, and a written demand of the rent has been made with at least fourteen days' notice requiring, in the alternative, the payment of the rent, or the possession of the premises, has been served upon the tenant as prescribed in section seven hundred thirty-five of this article.
The fourteen-day notice shall append or contain the notice required pursuant to section two hundred thirty-one-c of the real property law … if the premises are or are not subject to article six-A of the real property law, the "good cause eviction law", and if the premises are exempt, such notice shall state why the premises are exempt from such law.
New York's Good Cause Eviction law limits rent increases and non-renewal for many market-rate tenants and is what that reference to section 231-c is about. It carries its own exemptions, for smaller buildings among others, and the 14-day rent demand has to say which side of that line an apartment falls on.
The petition, the answer, and the court date
If the demand period passes without payment, or without the tenant leaving in a holdover case, the landlord can start the case itself: a petition and a notice of petition, filed with the court clerk and served on the tenant. The notice of petition is what tells a tenant when to show up, and the deadline to answer runs on a different clock depending on which kind of case it is.
If you are served with a nonpayment petition you must answer within 10 days after you have received the notice of petition. … The clerk will set a date for trial between 3 days and 8 days after you answer.
If you are served with a holdover petition, generally you must answer orally or in writing in the courtroom on the date of the hearing. However, if the petitioner serves the notice of petition at least 8 days prior to the return date, the notice of petition may ask you to answer at least 3 days before the hearing date.
A holdover case does not run on the same 10-day answer clock as nonpayment. Absent an early-answer demand, the tenant answers in person, on the hearing date itself.
Answering, whether orally at the clerk's counter or in writing, is what turns a case into a contest instead of an automatic loss; not answering lets the landlord seek a default judgment. For the defense that comes up most often in a regulated apartment, read how rent stabilization works; a NYCHA tenant faces a related but separate administrative process, covered in how NYCHA actually works.
The warrant, and what still stops it
A trial, if the case gets that far, ends in a judgment. Only after that judgment does the court issue the document that actually authorizes removal.
Upon rendering a final judgment for petitioner, the court shall issue a warrant directed to the sheriff of the county or to any constable or marshal of the city in which the property, or a portion thereof, is situated, or, if it is not situated in a city, to any constable of any town in the county, describing the property, stating the earliest date upon which execution may occur pursuant to the order of the court, and commanding the officer to remove all persons named in the proceeding
A signed warrant is not the end of the conversation in a nonpayment case specifically. The rent itself can still stop it, right up until the day the marshal acts.
In a judgment for non-payment of rent, the court shall vacate a warrant upon tender or deposit with the court of the full rent due at any time prior to its execution, unless the petitioner establishes that the tenant withheld the rent due in bad faith.
Bad faith is the exception that matters. Absent that finding, the statute reads as close to an unconditional right to pay your way out of a nonpayment eviction, up to the moment the marshal executes the warrant.
The marshal's notice, and eviction day itself
The warrant does not put anyone out by itself. A marshal has to serve a further written notice, separate from everything that came before, and let its own clock run out first.
The officer to whom the warrant is directed and delivered shall give at least fourteen days' notice, in writing and in the manner prescribed in this article for the service of a notice of petition, to the person or persons to be evicted or dispossessed and shall execute the warrant on a business day between the hours of sunrise and sunset.
Before executing the warrant the sheriff or marshal must give notice in writing to the persons to be evicted. The marshal may perform an eviction or obtain legal possession between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except on legal holidays.
The eviction can occur on or after the fifteenth day after the notice of eviction is served.
If that notice goes stale, thirty days pass without the warrant being executed, or a court stay expires, the marshal generally has to serve a fresh one before acting.
Where thirty days have passed since the earliest eviction date specified by the previous Notice of Eviction and the warrant has not yet been executed
What happens on the day itself carries its own rules. New York City's marshals are barred from removing certain items from an apartment regardless of what a landlord wants gone:
food, groceries, dishes encrusted with food, any fixture so attached to the realty that its removal will cause damage to the realty, rugs and wall-to-wall carpets which are firmly affixed to the floor, linoleum or tiles.
That list reads like it was written by someone who had already argued about a rug.
Getting a lawyer before it goes that far
Every stage above assumes a tenant is navigating the case alone. Since 2017, New York City has guaranteed something closer to the opposite for tenants who qualify.
The term "income-eligible individual" means a covered individual who is 60 years of age or older or whose annual gross household income is not in excess of 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines as updated periodically in the federal register by the United States department of health and human services pursuant to subsection (2) of section 9902 of title 42 of the United States code.
The term "covered proceeding" means any summary proceeding in housing court to evict a covered individual, including a summary proceeding to seek possession for the non-payment of rent or a holdover, or an administrative proceeding of the New York city housing authority for termination of tenancy.
All income-eligible individuals receive access to full legal representation no later than their first scheduled appearance in a covered proceeding in housing court, or as soon thereafter as is practicable.
The guarantee reaches nonpayment and holdover cases in Housing Court and the parallel administrative process NYCHA runs for its own tenants. It does not require a tenant to line up a lawyer first; the law puts the burden on the city's designated legal services organizations to provide one, free, by the first court date.
The questions New Yorkers actually ask
How long does an eviction take in NYC?
There is no single timeline, since so much depends on whether the case is answered and how a judge sets later dates, but the law fixes several minimums. A nonpayment case needs a 14-day rent demand before it can even be filed, the tenant then has 10 days to answer, and if a warrant is issued, the marshal must still give a separate written notice of at least 14 more days before eviction day itself.
What is the difference between a nonpayment and a holdover eviction case in NYC?
A nonpayment case is only about rent already owed and generally ends if the tenant pays what is due in full, even after judgment, unless the landlord proves the rent was withheld in bad faith. A holdover case covers everything else, including an expired lease, a lease violation, or an occupant who was never a tenant, and cannot be resolved just by paying money.
Can I stop an eviction in NYC by paying the rent I owe?
In a nonpayment case, generally yes, up until the marshal actually executes the warrant. State law requires the court to vacate the warrant if the tenant tenders or deposits the full rent due with the court, unless the landlord shows the tenant withheld the rent in bad faith.
Who qualifies for a free lawyer in NYC Housing Court?
Under the city's Right to Counsel law, any tenant who is 60 or older, or whose household income is at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, is guaranteed full legal representation no later than their first scheduled court appearance in an eviction case, or in a NYCHA termination proceeding.
What can't a marshal remove from my apartment during an eviction in NYC?
New York City's marshals are barred from removing certain items regardless of the eviction: food and groceries, dishes encrusted with food, any fixture attached to the building whose removal would cause damage, and rugs, wall-to-wall carpets, linoleum, or tiles that are firmly affixed to the floor.
The documents
The public records this page draws on. Read them yourself:
- NYC Housing Court: Starting a Nonpayment Case (New York State Unified Court System)
- Answering a Case in NYC Housing Court (New York State Unified Court System)
- NYC Housing Court Eviction: the warrant, the marshal's notice, and the eviction (New York State Unified Court System)
- New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law § 711: Grounds where landlord-tenant relationship exists
- New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law § 749: Warrant
- New York City Administrative Code § 26-1301: Definitions (Provision of Legal Services in Eviction Proceedings, Local Law 136/2017)
Now watch the machinery move.
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