New York Eviction Process 2026 — From 14-Day Notice to Lockout

The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) of 2019 rewrote New York eviction practice. The 3-day pay-or-quit notice was retired; a 14-day non-payment notice now serves as the pre-suit step. No-renewal of a tenancy got tiered by length of tenancy: 30 days under one year, 60 days between one and two years, 90 days for two-plus years. NYC layered universal right-to-counsel on top, which has nearly doubled actual case durations. The net effect: New York is now the slowest US state to evict, and operators who assume the old timeline are routinely surprised.

The 14-day non-payment notice

Under HSTPA, the standard non-payment eviction is preceded by a 14-day written demand for rent. The notice must:

• State the rent claimed due.
• Identify the periods to which it applies.
• Demand payment within 14 days or surrender of possession.

The notice can be served personally, by substituted service to a person of suitable age and discretion at the premises with a follow-up mailing, or by conspicuous-place-and-mail under specific conditions. The default 3-day pay-or-quit notice that pre-HSTPA operators used is no longer valid for residential non-payment.

Notice for non-renewal (holdover) — 30/60/90 days

For a no-cause termination at lease end, HSTPA tiered the notice period:

• Under 1 year of tenancy (or fixed-term lease under 1 year): 30 days written notice.
• 1 to 2 years of tenancy: 60 days written notice.
• 2+ years of tenancy or any tenancy with a 2+ year fixed-term lease: 90 days written notice.

The same tiered notice applies to substantial rent increases (>5%) — the tenant must receive the appropriate length of notice in addition to whatever statutory rent-increase notice is otherwise required.

Filing the proceeding

After the applicable notice expires, the landlord files either:

• A non-payment proceeding in housing court (NYC) or local equivalent (upstate). The petition is verified, includes the demand notice as an exhibit, and is filed with the housing court clerk.
• A holdover proceeding if the tenancy is being terminated for cause or non-renewal.

Tenant is served with a Notice of Petition and Petition. Service rules are strict — improper service is the most common dismissal ground in NYC housing court.

The NYC right-to-counsel effect

In 2017 NYC adopted the Universal Access to Counsel law, providing free legal representation to tenants facing eviction below certain income thresholds. By 2026, this covers a majority of NYC housing court litigants.

The practical effect:

• Pre-Universal Access typical NYC eviction: 60–90 days from filing.
• Post-Universal Access typical NYC eviction: 6–12 months from filing.

Tenant attorneys raise warranty-of-habitability defenses, contest service, file motions, and request adjournments. Each adjournment extends the case 2–6 weeks. The cumulative effect has been to make uncontested NYC evictions rare.

Upstate counties without right-to-counsel run faster — typically 60–120 days from filing — but several Hudson Valley and upstate cities have adopted similar programs.

Common HSTPA-era pitfalls

1. Serving a pre-HSTPA 3-day notice. Some lease templates still reference the old 3-day rule. The 14-day notice is now the minimum.
2. Wrong notice tier for non-renewal. Operators serve a 30-day notice on a tenant who has been there 2+ years. The case gets dismissed.
3. Demanding fees in the 14-day notice. Late fees, attorney's fees, and damages are not "rent" for HSTPA purposes. The 14-day notice must demand rent — not other amounts.
4. Continuing to accept partial payments after serving the notice. Doing so can constitute a waiver of the notice. Some operators run a "no payment after notice without written consent" policy.
5. Filing without proof of warranty-of-habitability compliance. Habitability defenses now require landlord testimony in many NYC courts. Inadequate response documentation hurts at trial.

NYC rent stabilization layer

For the ~1 million NYC units under rent stabilization, the eviction framework has additional layers:

• Automatic renewal right. Stabilized tenants have a statutory right to renew except for narrow enumerated grounds (non-payment, lease breach, illegal use, owner-use, demolition, etc.). The landlord cannot simply decline to renew.
• Successor rights. Long-term occupants who are family or family-equivalent of a deceased or surrendering tenant can succeed to the stabilized tenancy.
• DHCR oversight. Rent overcharge complaints and disputed services can be brought before the Division of Housing and Community Renewal in parallel with court proceedings.

Free-market eviction practice and stabilized eviction practice are different enough that running both with the same playbook is a leading cause of stabilized-side losses.

ETPA upstate cities

Since 2019, several upstate cities have opted into the Emergency Tenant Protection Act:

• Newburgh, Kingston, Poughkeepsie, Beacon (Hudson Valley)
• Several smaller jurisdictions in Westchester, Rockland, and Nassau counties

ETPA-opted-in cities have stabilization-style rules applying to qualifying buildings. Eviction practice in those jurisdictions resembles NYC more than upstate. Verify the city's status before serving notices.

Practical operator playbook

For New York non-payment cases:

1. Wait until the 14-day window is appropriate — usually after grace period and absence of payment commitment.
2. Serve the 14-day notice in compliance with the statute — exact rent demand, periods covered, no extras.
3. Document service — photograph the conspicuous-place posting; keep mailing receipts.
4. File promptly after the 14 days expire — don't let stale notice undermine the case.
5. Be prepared for delays if filing in NYC or another universal-access jurisdiction.

For holdover cases:

1. Tier the notice correctly based on tenancy length.
2. Serve well in advance of the lease end date to avoid having to extend.
3. For stabilized units: confirm the eviction ground is a valid statutory exception to the renewal right.

How Proprietio handles New York evictions

Proprietio's New York-tier lease workflow tags every tenancy with its anniversary date so the 30/60/90-day notice tier auto-computes at any point. The 14-day non-payment notice template is HSTPA-compliant out of the box and excludes non-rent demands. For NYC rent-stabilized units, the renewal cron uses the current Rent Guidelines Board rates (live-editable, no redeploy required), blocks the "Decline renewal" action, and pre-fills the 90-day notice deadline. ETPA-opted-in upstate cities are flagged automatically based on the property's city.

New York eviction practice rewards patience and precision. HSTPA didn't make evictions impossible — it made them slow, procedural, and predictable. Operators who treat the timeline realistically do better than operators who keep expecting the old speed to return.