New York Eviction Notices: 14-Day, 10-Day, and Termination Notice Rules

This is one of the procedures covered in New York landlord-tenant law: rights, rules, and leases. It explains the written notices New York requires before and during an eviction: which notice goes with which type of case, how many days each one gives, and how each must be delivered. It does not walk through the full court case from filing to judgment; for that sequence, see the New York eviction process timeline.

New York recognizes two main kinds of eviction case, and each begins with a different notice. A non-payment proceeding is for a tenant who owes rent. A holdover proceeding is for a tenant who stays past the lease term or past a proper termination. A landlord who serves the wrong notice, or the right notice with too few days, generally has to start over.

The 14-day rent demand (non-payment cases)

A non-payment case cannot be filed until the landlord first demands the overdue rent in writing and gives the tenant time to pay. Under N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law § 711(2), the written rent demand must give the tenant at least 14 days to either pay the rent owed or give up possession before the landlord files the petition. This 14-day period replaced the old three-day demand when the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act took effect.

The demand states the amount of rent claimed and the period it covers. The 2024 amendments to § 711(2) also require the demand to include the disclosure now mandated for covered units under the Good Cause Eviction Law, stating whether the unit is subject to that law and, if exempt, why.

A tenant who pays the full amount demanded within the 14 days ends the basis for a non-payment case. Payment rights continue even after a case is filed: under N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law § 749(3), a court must vacate a warrant of eviction in a non-payment case if the tenant tenders the full rent due at any time before the warrant is executed, unless the landlord shows the rent was withheld in bad faith.

Termination notices for holdover cases: 30, 60, or 90 days

A holdover case is different. There is no rent demand because the issue is not unpaid rent; it is that the tenancy has ended or the landlord wants to end it. The notice that begins a holdover case is a termination notice, and its length depends on how long the tenant has occupied the unit.

Under N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 226-c, a landlord who plans to end a tenancy or offer a renewal with a rent increase of 5% or more must give written notice measured by length of occupancy:

• At least 30 days if the tenant has lived in the unit less than one year and has no lease term of a year or more
• At least 60 days if the tenant has lived there more than one year but less than two years, or has a lease term of one to two years
• At least 90 days if the tenant has lived there more than two years, or has a lease term of two years or more

The notice period is measured by the longer of the tenant’s cumulative time in the unit or the length of the current lease term. For a month-to-month tenant in New York City, the same 30/60/90-day schedule applies through N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 232-a, which ties the termination notice to the § 226-c periods. Outside New York City, the parallel rule sits in N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 232-b.

Some holdover cases involve a separate notice to cure. When a landlord claims the tenant violated a lease term, the lease or governing regulation often requires a written notice giving the tenant a set number of days to fix the problem before a termination notice can follow. This cure period comes from the lease or the applicable rent-regulation rules rather than from the § 226-c notice schedule, so its length is set by the lease and not by statute.

The post-warrant 14-day notice before removal

Even after a landlord wins the case and the court signs a warrant of eviction, the tenant is not removed immediately. A second 14-day notice applies at the very end of the process.

Under N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law § 749, the sheriff, marshal, or constable who holds the warrant must give the people to be evicted at least 14 days’ written notice before carrying it out, and may execute the warrant only on a business day between sunrise and sunset. This is distinct from the 14-day rent demand at the start of a non-payment case; it is a final notice after judgment.

The same section lets a court stay or vacate the warrant for good cause before it is executed, and requires the court to vacate the warrant in a non-payment case if the tenant pays the full rent due before removal. The court system’s CourtHelp housing resources describe how a tenant asks the court for that relief.

How each notice must be served

A notice is only effective if it reaches the tenant in a way the law recognizes. New York uses the same service methods for the rent demand, the notice of petition, and the post-warrant notice.

N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law § 735 sets out how these papers are served: by personal delivery to the tenant; or, if the server cannot with reasonable effort deliver in person, by leaving the papers with a person of suitable age and discretion at the property and also mailing a copy (both by regular first-class mail and by certified or registered mail); or, if no one suitable is found, by affixing the papers to the door and mailing copies the same way. The last method is often called “nail and mail” and is a last resort, not a first choice.

Timing sits alongside method. When the case reaches court, N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law § 733 requires the notice of petition and petition in most holdover cases to be served at least 10 and not more than 17 days before the date the case is scheduled to be heard. That window is separate from the pre-filing notice periods and is easy to miss.

1. Match the notice to the case type

   Use a 14-day rent demand for a non-payment case and a 30/60/90-day termination notice for a holdover case. Serving the wrong notice, or combining reasons in one notice, invites dismissal. The reason stated in the notice controls what the landlord can later prove in court.

2. Count the days correctly

   The notice period runs from the date of service, not the date the notice is written. For a termination notice, confirm the tenant’s length of occupancy to pick the 30-, 60-, or 90-day tier under § 226-c. Building in a few extra days protects against a service-date dispute.

3. Serve by an approved method and keep proof

   Serve under § 735 by personal delivery, substituted service with mailing, or conspicuous-place service with mailing. Keep the certified-mail receipts and the process server’s affidavit; proof of proper service is what the court checks first.

What makes a notice defective

Because a defective notice can end an eviction case before it reaches the merits, it helps to know the recurring problems courts flag. A notice that gives too few days for the tenancy type is defective, as is a rent demand that overstates the amount owed by more than a trivial sum. A termination notice that names the wrong end date, or that is served by a method N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law § 735 does not authorize, can fail as well.

Courts also examine whether the notice named the correct parties and described the premises accurately. In a holdover case, a notice that does not state a valid ground for ending the tenancy, or that skips a cure period the lease requires, can be rejected. Because the notice defines the case, a landlord usually cannot fix these problems by amending later; the more common result is that the case is dismissed and the notice process starts again.

Notices for rent-regulated and Good Cause units

Additional notice rules apply to units that are rent-stabilized, rent-controlled, or covered by the 2024 Good Cause Eviction Law. These layers sit on top of the statewide notice periods rather than replacing them.

For a unit covered by the Good Cause Eviction Law, a landlord must include the disclosure now required by § 711(2) and § 226-c: whether the unit is subject to that law, the lawful basis for any non-renewal, and, for a rent increase above the local rent standard, the justification for the increase. Rent-stabilized tenancies carry their own renewal-offer and notice requirements administered by the state’s Division of Housing and Community Renewal, and the New York Attorney General’s tenants and homeowners resources summarize the broader tenant protections. A landlord dealing with a regulated unit generally follows both the statewide notice rule and the regulatory notice rule.