LANDLORD-TENANT LAW

The core areas of our Landlord-Tenant practice include representing clients – landlords and tenants of commercial and residential spaces – in non-payment rent proceedings and holdover proceedings in all five boroughs of New York City. Our attorneys routinely appear in the Housing Part and Commercial Part of the New York City Civil Court, are courtroom savvy, and have a keen ability to obtain favorable results for our clients. Regardless of the issues involved, we devise a smart strategy to help our clients achieve their goals.

Non-Payment Proceedings

Generally speaking, a non-payment proceeding is an action brought by the landlord to recover unpaid rent. Our representation of landlords includes, among other things, preparing rent demands, preparing notices of petitions and petitions, prosecuting non-payment proceedings in court and, when warranted, negotiating settlements. In addition, after we have obtained a judgment or if a tenant violates a stipulation, we coordinate with the New York City marshals when necessary and ensure that the courts issue appropriate warrants and that the judgments and stipulations are enforced.

When we represent tenants, we prepare answers to the landlords' petitions, assert appropriate affirmative defenses, engage in motion practice when necessary, defend non-payment proceedings at trial, and whenever possible, negotiate reasonable stipulations and settlements.

Holdover Proceedings

A holdover case is brought by the landlord to evict an occupant of the premises for reasons other than nonpayment of rent. A holdover proceeding can have many variations and, in the residential context, can include claims of (i) non-primary residence, (ii) illegal subletting, (iii) nuisance, (iv) owner's own use, (v) succession claims, (vi) no-pet clause violations, (vii) breaches of a substantial obligation of tenancy, (viii) expiration of term, and (ix) illegal alteration.

In the commercial context, holdover claims can involve, among other things, (i) illegal assignment and subletting, (ii) illegal alterations, (iii) breaches of lease provisions, (iv) building code and other violations, (v) expiration of term, (vi) violations of the certificate of occupancy, and (vii) illegal use of the premises.

We have significant experience handling all of the above holdover proceedings for both landlords and tenants. For landlords, we prepare predicate notices, including notices to cure and termination notices, prepare notices of petitions and petitions, prosecute holdover claims at trial and, when appropriate, negotiate favorable settlements. We are also involved in every aspect of post-judgment proceedings.

Our representation of tenants includes, among other things, preparing answers to the landlords' holdover petitions, asserting all possible affirmative defenses, defending our clients at trial, and negotiating settlements.

Miscellaneous Proceedings

In addition to handling non-payment and holdover proceedings, we represent landlords and tenants in HP proceedings, which are brought by tenants or the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to obtain repairs, as well as in warranty of habitability disputes.

We also routinely appear in New York Supreme Court to litigate shareholder claims, such as shareholder derivative actions brought by shareholders of cooperatives to address corporate wrongdoing, as well as claims for declaratory and other equitable relief.