New York Landlord & Tenant Litigation: Getting a Case Started (Update)

There are, on average, 254,183 new landlord and tenant cases filed in the Housing Parts of the New York City Civil Courts every year. The courts are open about 250 days a year. That is 1,017 new cases, on average, for every day that the court is open. Moreover, these cases spawn an astounding 242,250 motions, on average, per year. These cases also result in 125,951 warrants of eviction. In other words, there is a huge volume of Landlord and Tenant cases working its way through the court system.

In this program, Michelle Maratto Itkowitz, a noted NYC Landlord-Tenant attorney, will introduce the landlord and tenant field and walk viewers step by step through the beginning stages of a case. Landlord and tenant cases are often won (or lost) before the case is even filed, and a myriad of legal and factual issues need to be examined, understood, and dealt with in order to either bring a winnable case on behalf of a landlord, or effectively litigate on behalf of a tenant.

Learning Objectives:

1. Develop a checklist of approximately twenty things to check before filing (or planning to defend against) an L&T case
2. Identify and define various occupancy relationships – such as what is a tenant at sufferance and what is a licensee
3. Recognize the differences between a summary proceeding and regular plenary lawsuits
4. Distinguish a nonpayment proceeding from a holdover proceeding and understand when each should be employed
5. Analyze vital preliminary issues and material in a landlord and tenant matter in order to bring a successful case, including the petitioner’s interest, the lease, the multiple dwelling registration, DHCR records, an arrears report, and many other items
6. Draft a defensible predicate notice, including a rent demand, a notice to cure default, or a termination notice