Free New York 14-Day Rent Demand / Notice to Quit (Nonpayment)

Fourteen. RPAPL § 711(2) permits a nonpayment proceeding where the tenant “has defaulted in the payment of rent, pursuant to the agreement under which the premises are held, and a written demand of the rent has been made with at least fourteen days’ notice requiring, in the alternative, the payment of the rent, or the possession of the premises,” served as prescribed in RPAPL § 735. Notice the alternative structure the statute insists on: the demand must ask for payment or possession, not payment alone. A demand that only asks for money is not the notice the section describes.

Not in a residential proceeding. RPAPL § 702(1) defines “rent” in a proceeding relating to a residential dwelling as “the monthly or weekly amount charged in consideration for the use and occupation of a dwelling pursuant to a written or oral rental agreement,” and adds that “no fees, charges or penalties other than rent may be sought in a summary proceeding pursuant to this article, notwithstanding any language to the contrary in any lease or rental agreement.” Section 702(2) carves out certain cooperative housing corporations. Other charges must be pursued, if at all, somewhere other than this proceeding.

Yes, under the text now in force. RPAPL § 711(2) provides that the fourteen-day notice “shall append or contain the notice required pursuant to section two hundred thirty-one-c of the real property law.” That RPL § 231-c notice tells the tenant whether the unit is subject to Article 6-A of the Real Property Law, the Good Cause Eviction Law, states why it is exempt if it is exempt, and gives the lawful basis for non-renewal of a covered unit. RPL § 231-c attaches the same notice to a § 226-c notice and to the petition under RPAPL § 741.

RPAPL § 735(1) gives three methods in sequence. Personally delivering to the respondent. Or delivering to and leaving personally with a person of suitable age and discretion who resides or is employed at the property, if on reasonable application admittance can be obtained and such a person found who will receive it. Or, where that fails, affixing a copy on a conspicuous part of the property or placing it under the entrance door. Substituted and conspicuous service each require, within one day, mailing to the respondent both by registered or certified mail and by regular first-class mail.

Yes. Nonpayment of rent is prosecuted under RPAPL § 711(2) whatever the regulatory status of the unit, and the Rent Stabilization Code assumes exactly that: 9 NYCRR § 2524.2(a) requires the owner’s written termination notice for the grounds in §§ 2524.3 and 2524.4 “except where the ground for removal or eviction of a tenant is nonpayment of rent.” What stabilization changes is which rent is lawfully collectible and which defences a tenant may raise, not the length of the demand. Stabilized units outside New York City run on the Emergency Tenant Protection Regulations, Part 2504.

Only for a debt that is not rent. RPAPL § 711(3) uses three days’ notice where a tenant in a city has defaulted for sixty days on taxes or assessments levied on the premises that the tenant agreed in writing to pay. For rent itself, the three-day demand was superseded by the fourteen-day requirement now written into § 711(2), and there is no residential, commercial or month-to-month exception in that subdivision. Three-day templates still circulate widely, so check that any form handed to you tracks the current text of § 711(2) before serving it.

The statute does not say, so this answer is practice rather than text. Section 711(2) requires a demand in the alternative — pay the rent or give up possession — so payment in full within the period supplies precisely what was demanded and leaves nothing for a nonpayment proceeding to recover. What to do about a partial payment, or about rent tendered after filing, is contested and fact-specific. Note that § 711(1) expressly says acceptance of rent does not terminate a proceeding on the holdover ground, but that is a different ground. Take advice before refusing money.

Possession still does not change hands privately. RPAPL § 711 states that no tenant or lawful occupant of a dwelling or housing accommodation may be removed from possession except in a special proceeding, and RPAPL § 749(1) has the court issue a warrant directed to the sheriff of the county or to a marshal or constable, stating the earliest date upon which execution may occur. Section 749(2)(a) then requires that officer to give at least fourteen days’ written notice to the persons to be evicted, to execute only on a business day between sunrise and sunset, and to check first for a companion animal.