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I received a marshal eviction notice what can I do?

 

Customer Question

Hi. I received a marshal eviction today. I have asn agreement to pay certain amount of back rent with my rent. I am alwasys pay at the end of the month. Last month I sent the money order late. Forgot to call the secretary now I'm getting an eviction. Plus there are some repairs that need to be done.

Submitted: 289 days and 23 hours ago.
Category: Landlord-Tenant
Value: $19
Status: CLOSED
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Expert:  ecfritz replied 289 days and 22 hours ago.


ecfritz :

Hi, I'd like to help you with your landlord-tenant issue this morning.

ecfritz :

You may ask the court to issue an Order to Show Cause and a Stay, which would stay (i.e. delay) the eviction until the issues raised by the tenant are addressed on a hearing date set by the court (in your case, for instance, you might be able to argue waiver, as the landlord had allowed late rent in the past; the repairs issue you mention; actual payment of the contracted amount even though it was a few days late, etc.)
If the marshal is served with
a signed OSC that stays the eviction, he or she is legally bound by the
directions of the court, but if the court does not stay the eviction, the
marshal must go forward with it. Unless otherwise directed by the court, the
marshal, after being served with an OSC that stays the eviction, must serve an
additional Notice of Eviction by regular mail before conducting the eviction or
legal possession.

ecfritz :

It is VERY important that you obtain this Order to Show Cause within three business days after receiving the Notice of Eviction, as you can literally be evicted (thrown out of the apartment) on the fourth business day after receiving the Notice if you do not do so.

ecfritz :

I believe you would go to the New York City Civil Court in the borough where the building is located to try to obtain the Order.

ecfritz :

If you live outside New York City, the address of the appropriate court should be on the Notice, so you would go there to obtain the Order.

ecfritz :

Here's a link to Marshal Eviction procedure in New York City: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doi/html/marshals/evictions.shtml

ecfritz :

And here's a link to Marshal Eviction procedure for the rest of the state: http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/nyc/housing/eviction.shtml

ecfritz :

If you are a senior citizen or receive housing assistance, please contact 311 or your caseworker, respectively.

ecfritz :

Also include the fact that you are a senior citizen and/or receive housing assistance in your Order to Show Cause and a Stay that you file with the court (if either is applicable).

ecfritz :

I hope this was helpful and wish you the best of luck.

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Expert:  ecfritz replied 289 days and 22 hours ago.

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Customer replied 289 days and 22 hours ago.

Will there be any problems for the court not to issue me a oscs ?

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Expert:  ecfritz replied 289 days and 22 hours ago.

I'm honestly not entirely sure, but I would think you would be entitled to a hearing if you could produce the agreement to pay back rent and cancelled checks indicating that you did, in fact, make last month's rent payment.

Also, if the apartment is rent-controlled/rent-stabilized, I believe you would be entitled to a hearing as well, so you should list that if it's applicable.

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Expert:  ecfritz replied 289 days and 22 hours ago.

If you cannot obtain an OCS Order for some reason, you should contact your landlord immediately and see if you can work something out. In my experience, landlords will often dismiss an eviction if you pay the eviction fee and/or the landlord's attorney's fees.

Customer replied 289 days and 21 hours ago.

I had an agreement with the landlord already . Since last year. I owe 5000 which I being paying in monthly amounts. I don't have that money and the rent do you think that's what they will be asking? Yes my apartment is rent control . I live there for 16 yrs with my two kids that are young man now but they go to school I'm the sole provider. Work hourly and in unprofitable organization. I'm also looking out for my elderly father who lives a couple of blocks away from me. Im sorry but I asm so stress out and scared. I don't have money or a place to go.

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Expert:  ecfritz replied 289 days and 19 hours ago.

You have a LOT at stake here, as you will likely not be able to find a comparable apartment at a similar price since your current unit is rent-controlled. I would STRONGLY advise hiring a local attorney to assist you with your case - I know it may seem expensive, but it will likely be cheaper than the cost of moving and paying a new security deposit.

That being said, you should file the motion/petition for the OCS Order on your own ASAP so you can GET a hearing date where your attorney (or you, if you so choose) can argue your case. It would be a good idea to include essentially everything you've stated above.

Here's the crux of your legal case that you should emphasize in your motion/petition:

1) You have an agreement to pay a total of $5,000 in back rent along with your monthly payments.

2) You have been making these payments (monthly rent plus arrears) and are CURRENT right now under the terms of the agreement (if that's the case).

3) The landlord has accepted X (find out how many) payments from you 3-5 days late under the current agreement and has thus waived their ability to evict based on untimely payment without giving you some kind of advance notice that they would do so the next time you were late.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

ecfritz41087.5676517361

Customer replied 289 days and 10 hours ago.

Hello again!! Have one last question I'm sorry. I just learned that the new management bought the property just as meaning balance is zero. The back rent that I owe was from the previous owner. Is there something I can do about it? I really don't have funds. ;(((

Accepted Answer

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Expert:  ecfritz replied 289 days and 9 hours ago.

I don't completely understand. Is the new management company admitting that you are current (and owe $0 as of today) OR are they saying that you still owe them the balance of the $5,000 and are behind on those back rent payments?

If they are saying you owe $0, you can use this statement against them in court and likely prevail if this is properly argued (as the new landlord would basically be admitting that you are current). If they are saying you still owe them the balance of the $5,000, make them produce the written contract you signed agreeing to pay the $5,000; if they have this written contract, you might want to argue that they waived their right to timely payments by accepting late payments in the past (if you ever paid the old landlord late, the new landlord would have no way to really dispute this assertion without calling the old landlord into court).

Either way, I would STRONGLY advise consulting a local attorney to assist you with this matter. I am extremely concerned that you will be evicted in spite of the fact that you have several potentially valid defenses if you do not hire an attorney.

Expert TypeAttorney
Category: Landlord-Tenant
Pos. Feedback: 98.3 %
Accepts: 92
Answered: 6/28/2012

Experience: Florida attorney focusing on foreclosure, bankruptcy, landlord-tenant law, and commercial litigation.

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