Landlord & Tenant

Practice Overview

The firm represents clients in landlord-tenant disputes every day, throughout the boroughs of New York City and its surrounding counties. The firm’s clients range from management companies to small property owners.

The process of commencing an eviction case in New York, whether for the nonpayment of rent or a holdover, is neither straightforward nor easy. These proceedings are very technical and require a thorough comprehension of New York’s ever-changing and complex real property law.  Improperly commencing such proceedings can result in undue delay, or worse, dismissal after much spent time and money.  The attorneys at the Firm pride themselves on their years of experience and are prepared to guide you in your landlord-tenant dispute every step of the way and at very reasonable and competitive fees.

Holdover Proceeding

A holdover case is commenced by a landlord to evict a commercial or residential tenant for reasons other than the tenant’s failure to pay rent.  Due to the very nature of a  holdover case, it is difficult and highly technical because a landlord is seeking an Order from the Court to evict a tenant and dissolve a tenant’s rights to a certain property or space.  There are numerous grounds for a holdover case including non-primary residence, illegal subletting, expiration of the lease, nuisance, illegal activities, breaches of lease terms, violations of rent laws, etc.

In order to commence a holdover proceeding, the landlord is typically required to serve predicate notices pursuant to statutes and case law.  Improperly prepared notices may and likely will cause the landlord to lose precious time in the eviction process and possibly require the landlord to restart the process before a Court Order is issued.  The firm will review your case and prepare any predicate notices to be served by our licensed process server.

The attorneys of the Firm have the experience and knowledge to deal with your holdover landlord-tenant dispute.  In the event your case cannot be settled and will require a trial, the attorneys have a breadth of experience in the Housing Courts of New York to proceed and vigorously represent your rights and thoroughly prepare the client or trial.

Non-payment Proceedings

The total amount of unpaid rent is referred to as “arrears.”  While the non-payment of rent severely injures a landlord’s finances and operations of a building, New York frowns at landlords electing self-help remedies in such circumstances, regardless of the length of time of the non-payment and regardless of the total amount of arrears.  Rather, a proceeding for the non-payment of rent is commenced by a landlord to collect unpaid rent from commercial and residential tenants.  In a non-payment proceeding, the goal is to either obtain payment from the tenant or effectuate an eviction to return possession of the premises to the landlord.

Similar to a holdover proceedings, the service initiates non-payment proceedings upon the tenant of a rent demand notice. Likewise, improperly prepared rent demand notices may and likely cause the landlord to lose precious time in the non-payment proceeding and possibly require the landlord to restart the process before a Court Order is issued. Rent demands must be prepared pursuant to the statute and the effective lease if any. Leo Shalit PC will review your case and prepare the rent demand to be served by our licensed process server.

The attorneys of the firm have the experience and knowledge to deal with your non-payment dispute.  In the event your case cannot be settled and will require a trial, the attorneys have a breadth of experience in the Housing Courts of New York to proceed and vigorously represent your rights and thoroughly prepare the client or trial.

Do you have a Landlord & Tenant dispute? Contact us today.