Best way to evict

[Brittany Kelly]

We have tenants whose lease expired 5/31 who won’t leave and haven’t paid rent. Best and quickest way to evict?

[Tony Christian]

Hey James. You mentioned a 10-day Pay or Quit Notice — and I get why that sounds appealing. Quick, simple, and puts pressure on the tenant, right? But here’s the catch:

In New York, the official process for nonpayment of rent requires a 14-day Rent Demand, not 10. And it has to follow very specific guidelines, or the court could toss out your case and make you start over.

That said — I personally wouldn’t go the nonpayment route unless you want to keep the tenant if they suddenly come up with the money.

Here’s why:

A nonpayment eviction gives the tenant the legal right to “cure” the situation by paying what they owe — and then they get to stay.

A holdover eviction, on the other hand, is all about getting possession of the unit back — whether or not they pay.

Since your lease has expired and they haven’t paid anything, I’d go the holdover path — cleaner and more likely to result in them actually leaving.

If you really wanted to pursue nonpayment, you’d need to:

Serve a 5-day late rent notice first.

Then serve a 14-day rent demand (not 10).

Then file for eviction if they don’t pay.

But again — that opens the door for them to delay by suddenly paying partial rent or requesting payment plans in court, which slows things down.

Personally, I’d rather get the property back and start fresh with a better tenant.