[LLinneed]

I am a landlord in Westchester County, NY who has a tenant that has not paid her rent for at least 6 months consecutively. She has paid partial payments towards this running balance of which I had accepted up to November 17th. She sent a menial payment December, but I have not accepted it. She now also owes January 2009. I have tried to work with her and she has a running balance that began in June 2008... she is not on a lease, she is month to month and I need to know if I should send a 3, 5, or 10 day notice before starting the eviction process... please help and thank you

[starfirefly]

I would say 3 day because you have given her more than enough time and you need to not be so nice people will walk all over you

[LisaB4657]

While it might be nice to be able to pick a notice period based on how nice you feel you need to be, you really have to provide a notice period that is based on the law of the state where the property is located.

According to the chart at http://www.thelpa.com/free/statenoticechart.pdf, NY requires a 3 day notice for non-payment of rent. I tried to look through the NY statute to confirm it but wasn't able to find the provision. However I believe another Expert here, JudyKayTee, is a landlord in NY and she should be able to give you a definitive answer.

[JudyKayTee]

While it might be nice to be able to pick and choose a notice period based on how nice you feel you need to be, you really have to provide a notice period that is based on the law of the state where the property is located.

According to the chart at http://www.thelpa.com/free/statenoticechart.pdf, NY requires a 3 day notice for non-payment of rent. I tried to look through the NY statute to confirm it but wasn't able to find the provision. However I believe another Expert here, JudyKayTee, is a landlord in NY and she should be able to give you a definitive answer.

You had it (as always - :D) - the exact law is:

In NYS a landlord seeking to evict a tenant for non-payment must first give the tenant a chance to pay, by giving the tenant a three-day notice in writing, stating that the tenant has three days to pay all the rent in full or the tenancy will be terminated.

The procedure begins when the tenancy is terminated (after the 3 days). In a non-payment case the eviction can start after the three (3) day notice is given and no payment is made in three (3) days. The act of non-payment terminates the tenancy. The holdover eviction can start as soon as the tenancy is terminated because of breach, or after the expiration of the notice period in a month to month tenancy.[/I]