Guide to evicting a tenant in Brooklyn

Being a landlord in NYC has its pros and cons. Most of the time, you are going to be collecting rent and everything is going to be just fine. However, there will be times where you will have tenants that are less than desirable. In these times, you may wish to simply hire full service movers NYC and get the tenant off your property. But it is not as easy as all that. You will need to follow legal procedures when evicting a tenant in Brooklyn. This article is going to go into further detail about your options.

Things you should know about evicting a tenant in Brooklyn

The first thing to know is that you absolutely need to have a cause if you want to end the tenancy early. The laws say that you can’t remove a tenant from your property earlier than the lease states. Unless you have a proper cause, that is.

There are some things that you can do, however, like giving your tenant notice. The more they have been in the apartment, however, the larger the notice needs to be. Evicting someone is not as easy as yelling “get out”, after all. Both the landlord and the tenant will need to comply with the letter of the law.

Notice for termination with cause when evicting a tenant in Brooklyn

There are several notices that you can send to your tenant if you want him out. If you have proper cause for wanting to evict a tenant before the expiration of the lease, you can do so with:

• Fourteen-day notice to quit or pay rent
• Notice to cure
• Notice of termination

Fourteen-day notice to quit or pay rent

You can use this notice if your tenant has missed out on their rent payment. Your tenant will then have fourteen days to pay the rent or move out of the unit. While this does not really force the tenant to move out, in many cases it does just that.

The fact of the matter is that if someone is late with the rent, they have a good reason and will usually need more than 14 days to pay it. By forcing a notice, you will effectively force someone to either find the money asap or to simply leave and deal with the issue later. If your tenants do not move, you have an option to file a lawsuit against them, after the 14 days pass. However, during this Covid-19 times, evictions might be suspended at some points. Make sure that you are up to date with the current events.

Notice to cure

If your tenant has violated the lease in any manner, you will need to first provide him with a notice to cure. This is the first of two necessary notices that you need to provide to your tenants. It will inform them that they have 10 days to correct whatever is violating the lease agreement. If the problem disappears after those ten days, you will not be able to evict the tenants. But, for the most part, people who create lease infractions are not well-known for solving problems in a timely manner. However, your tenants might follow the tips for renting a home and comply with the notice. In that case, you will most likely need to wait out the lease period.

After this notice has been sent, and the tenants failed to comply with it within 10 days, you can then send the:

Notice of termination

This is the final notice that you will need. Your tenants have not “cured” the problem and you are now informing them that the tenancy is over. However, you will still need to give them 30 more days to move out of the unit. If they do not do so, then you are free to start an eviction process through the court.

The law will be on your side and you can expect an expedient solution to your problem. But for the most part, you will not need to do so, as everyone knows what happens when courts get involved. Your tenants will simply hire Brooklyn local movers and move out before the notice of termination final date is due. This is what happens most times.

Evicting a tenant in Brooklyn – Notice for termination without cause

As mentioned previously, you can’t really terminate a lease without any cause. Even if the lease period has expired, you will need to provide notice to your tenants that you want them to move out. In these cases, there are two rental situations, both of which require a different notice:

• Fixed-term lease
• Month-to-month rental agreement

Fixed-term lease

When it comes to a fixed-term lease, the only time where you have to send a notice, after the period of the lease is over, is when your lease agreement specifically calls for it. In all other cases, if the lease period is over, you don’t need to give any notice, you can expect your tenants to move out. If your place is among the best housing options in Brooklyn, they might not be so keen to move out before the lease period is over, though.

Month-to-month rental agreement

You will need to send a notice under this agreement if you wish to end the tenancy early without cause. If your tenants have been occupying the unit for a year, you will need to send a 30 days’ notice. Anywhere between one to two years of tenancy will require a 60 days notice. Finally, if your tenants have been leasing your property for more than two years, a 90 days’ notice is required.

Tenant defenses

Your tenants can fight your eviction process even if you have a proper cause, however. They will mostly base their defenses on your failings, though. Most commonly, they will try to find any procedural mistakes that you have made, such as a notice that is improperly served or starting an eviction lawsuit ahead of time. Other than that, they will try to appear discriminated against or point out your failings to maintain the rental unit properly and according to the law.

What you can do in these cases is to “have your bases covered”, which means that you do everything in your power not to provide them with anything that they can use against you. Keep your unit in accordance to the law, do not make any procedural mistakes, yell any kind of slurs at your tenants, and the eviction process will go as fast as possible.

You always want to be calm and collected whenever dealing with tenants. That is the scariest thing that you can do.