EVICTION PREVENTION PROGRAM

If you are at risk of being evicted, please visit our office during walk-in hours Monday - Wednesday 9am - 10:30 am or call for an appointment.  Our experienced Tenant Advocates will help you understand the legal process, inform you of your tenant rights, and work with you to avoid the eviction.  In the meanwhile, you may find the information below helpful.

 

What to do if you have a three-day notice:

 

A three-day notice is a demand for rent. This letter from your landlord or your landlord’s attorney is the first step in the legal process. While this is not a document summoning you to court, DO NOT IGNORE IT! Your landlord is letting you know that if you do not pay all rent due on or before a certain date, legal action will commence and the matter will be brought to housing court.

 

If you are unable to pay the rent due because of a financial hardship you should:

 

Make arrangements to pay your landlord immediately!

 

If you do not have the money to pay your arrears, SEEK ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY from Strycker’s Bay, a legal services office, or the NYC Human Resources Administration (877-HRA-3411). If you disagree with the amount your landlord states you owe, contact your building manager immediately and resolve the dispute before the matter goes to court. The following information was prepared by the City-Wide Task Force on Housing Court and reproduced here. You may want to visit the Task Force's website for additional information on housing court procedures.

 

Answering a nonpayment petition (dispossess notice):

 

Before you can be legally evicted from your apartment, the landlord must begin a case against you in court (generally, in the Housing Part of the Civil Court of New York or in State Supreme Court). The rent must be demanded (either in writing or orally) before the landlord can begin a case. Then you must be served with papers called a "Nonpayment Petition" and "Notice of Petition." Sometimes these papers are called a "dispossess."

 

DO NOT IGNORE ANY LEGAL PAPERS, NOTICES OR POSTCARDS THAT COME FROM THE COURT. READ THEM CAREFULLY. IF YOU IGNORE THESE PAPERS AND DO NOT GO TO COURT, YOU MAY BE EVICTED.

 

Answering a nonpayment petition:

 

Read your papers. The nonpayment petition states that you should go to court within 5 days to answer; it also states the address of the court. Go immediately with your nonpayment petition to your borough housing court and see the landlord/tenant clerk.  

Be ready to give your answer to the clerk, either orally or in writing. If you want to write your response, you can get the form from the clerk's office. Once you have filed the form with the clerk, you must send a copy to your landlord or his/her attorney (if the landlord has one). Your answer is your chance to state your defenses and/or any counterclaims you may have. Most tenants choose to answer verbally. You should tell the clerk your answer and then he/she will check off your defenses and give you a copy of the form, which includes the date and time of your appointment and the room number and part of housing court to which you will return. 

You might want to consider using the following questions as a guideline in determining your answer:

Service

How did you receive your court papers? Were you properly served as required by law? Proper service is one of the following:

• Personal Service – You are hand-delivered a copy of the petition (by someone who is at least 18 years old and not a party to the case);
• Substitute Service – Someone (of legal age) who lives in your apartment is given the Petition at your address and you are sent copies by certified and regular mail;
• Conspicuous Service – The court papers are taped to or slid under your door, followed by copies that are sent by certified and regular mail.
• If you did not receive your court papers by one of the above methods you may have been served improperly. Be sure to tell the clerk.

 

Parties

 

• Is your name spelled correctly on the court papers?
• Is there another person whose name should appear on the court papers (e.g., a roommate or a spouse)?
• Is the person, corporation or company who has filed the case against you the owner of your building? If you are unsure, you can get assistance at the Information Table.

 

Rent

• Were you asked to pay the rent, either orally or in writing, before receiving court papers?
• Did the landlord refuse to take your rent?
• Is the amount of rent being claimed by the landlord incorrect? The rent being claimed may be incorrect because it is not the legal registered rent. (This applies to rent stabilized and rent controlled apartments. To find out the legal registered rent or rent history for your apartment, you can contact the Division of Housing and Community Renewal in your borough.)  
• Is the monthly rent being claimed different from the amount in your lease?
• Has the rent been partially or fully paid?

Apartment

• Are there conditions in your apartment that need repair or services which are not being provided?
• Are you receiving public assistance and are there Housing Code violations in your apartment or building?
• Are you living in an illegal apartment? An illegal apartment is one in which the landlord does not have a valid Certificate of Occupancy from the Department of Buildings.

Other

• Did you pay for repairs, utilities, or services that should have been provided by your landlord?
• Has your personal property been damaged because your landlord failed to provide proper repairs or services?
• Do you have any other reason(s) for believing that you do not owe the landlord part or all of the amount being claimed?
• Do the rent demand and/or Petition inaccurately state the months for which you owe rent?

If, after answering these questions, you feel that your landlord has wronged you in any way, you might want to put in a counterclaim. A counterclaim is a specific amount of money that you feel the landlord owes you. You should have receipts to support any counterclaims you may make. Please be sure to briefly state the reason(s) for counterclaim and the specific dollar amount being claimed. 

When answering your non-payment petition, you may use one or more of the above reasons as defenses, depending on the specific facts of your case. Be sure to inform the clerk of any defenses that apply to you. You should, also, check to make sure the clerk has recorded your answers appropriately.

IMPORTANT NOTICE                                                                                                                            

The City-Wide Task Force on Housing Court, Inc., a not-for-profit coalition of community housing organizations, prepared the information provided above. This information was prepared not by attorneys, but by experienced housing advocates and should not be thought of as legal advice and cannot be considered a substitute for legal advice and representation by a qualified attorney.