Evicting a Holdover Tenant

[Dan L.]

Hi all. Just looking to see if anybody could point me in the right direction.. Without me having to pay tons of money to a lawyer to do an eviction.

I bought this duplex in April in upstate New York. It had two tenants. Both paying way below market rent, but that's a different topic. Both leases expired a year or two ago. Upstairs people I got them on a lease, no problems, great tenants. Downstairs people, giving me, my workers, and the other tenant a hard time. They did not want to sign a lease. So, I am looking to have them move out. Gave them notice, waited the time period, and they did not move.

They continue to pay rent. They gave me a check for this month, but I am not cashing it. I want them gone.

New York state has an interactive legal document thing to make this supposedly easier. However, their website says the following.. and I am confused as to the difference between bringing a proceeding and starting a case. Anybody know the difference? Any other advice? Thanks

“This program is not for you. If the tenant has not given up possession of the premises, you can't bring a licensee holdover proceeding in court. You can start a holdover case against the tenant.”

[Tom O.]

NY is rough man. You need an attorney. If you're going to do it yourself, google elsewhere. There's tons of guides on how to do it. 

One tip: most holdover clauses raise the rent significantly if they stay and you invoke the "holdover clause" by ending their tenancy if that's how your lease is set up to do so.