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EVICTION HELP

Eviction papers in New York: free help

Free, and based on the court's and the legislature's own sources. No account, no payment.

Your deadline

Look at the top of your court papers. If they say "Notice of Nonpayment Petition" and come from the Civil Court of the City of New York (Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens or Staten Island), there is no court date on them yet: you must answer at the landlord-tenant clerk's office within 10 days after the papers were handed to you or someone who lives or works in your home, or were posted at your home. You can tell the clerk your answer out loud, or answer in writing (a written answer must first be served on the landlord, so start early). The clerk then gives you a court date 3 to 8 days later. For every other New York eviction case (a holdover case anywhere, or a nonpayment case outside New York City), go to court on the date and time printed on the Notice of Petition and answer then, out loud or in writing. If your papers ask you to answer earlier than the court date, answer by that earlier date. A defense you do not raise in your answer may be lost.

the court date and time printed on the Notice of Petition (holdover cases everywhere in New York, and nonpayment cases outside New York City)

If you do not answer or appear

If you do not answer in time (NYC nonpayment case) or do not come to court on the court date (all other cases), the court can enter a judgment against you without hearing your side, and the landlord can then have you evicted.

Source: RPAPL 732(3); NYC Notice of Nonpayment Petition and Notice of Holdover Petition (court forms, files posted 2026-05)

Cost to answer

No fee to answer an eviction case. A jury demand costs $70 in NYC Housing Court, and a person who cannot afford court fees can ask the judge to waive them.

Source: NYS Unified Court System, Tenant Questions and Answers in Nonpayment Eviction Cases (District, City, Town and Village Courts outside NYC, updated July 2019), page 5, and the holdover edition; NYC Tenants: Questions and Answers About Housing Court (court guide; file posted 2025-10); NYC Housing Court Fees page (no answer fee listed; jury demand $70)

What your papers are called

Notice of Petition and Petition. In NYC the notice is titled "Notice of Nonpayment Petition" or "Notice of Holdover Petition", and the court may also mail a postcard. Outside NYC the court forms are titled "Notice of Court Date: Rent Not Paid" (Notice of Petition, Nonpayment, UCS-LTN1) or "Notice of Court Date: Eviction Case" (Notice of Petition, Holdover, UCS-LTH1). New York City: Housing Part of the Civil Court of the City of New York (Housing Court). Outside New York City: the City Court, District Court, or Town or Village Justice Court where the home is (summary proceeding).

Free help

Are you the landlord?

Whether a company landlord needs a lawyer depends on the court and the case.

A corporation (or voluntary association) landlord must appear by a lawyer in NYC Housing Court, District Courts and City Courts. In a Town or Village Justice Court a corporation may appear by an authorized officer, director or employee. The small claims and commercial claims exceptions in CPLR 321(a) do not cover eviction cases. CPLR 321(a) names corporations and voluntary associations and does not name LLCs; whether an LLC landlord may appear without a lawyer is UNVERIFIED from statute, so treat an LLC like a corporation and refer out. Any landlord without a lawyer also cannot issue the notice of petition: the clerk or a judge must sign it (RPAPL 731(1)).

Source: CPLR 321(a) (activeDate 2022-12-23); Uniform Justice Court Act 501; RPAPL 731(1); UCS Tenant Questions and Answers in Nonpayment Eviction Cases (outside NYC), page 3

The court's landlord form: Petition for Non-Payment Eviction (UCS-LTN2)

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Sources read on 2026-10-05.