A "notice of eviction" is a written notice from a City Marshal that warns you that you and your family can be evicted soon. An eviction means that the Marshal can come to your apartment, remove you and your family and your belongings from the apartment, and change the door locks.
If the notice of eviction is given to you personally, you can be evicted on the fourth business day after that, not counting weekends and legal holidays. If the notice is not served on you personally, then you can be evicted on the sixth business day after it is left with someone else in your apartment or left on your apartment door. Since mistakes can happen, you should not wait until the fourth or sixth business day before you do something either to stop the eviction or to move out of the apartment if you agree that you do not have the right to remain.
The notice of eviction is the last court paper that needs to be served on you before you are evicted. The notice of eviction will be served after the court issues a warrant of eviction. The notice of eviction is supposed to be served like other legal papers. (See p. 7, Chapter 3, "How Legal Papers are Served") However, even if the Marshal does not serve the papers on you in the right way, it may be difficult for you to stop the eviction or for you to have a judge put you back in your apartment after the eviction if the landlord has a judgment against you after trial or if you have not kept the promises you made in an agreement settling your case.
After the warrant is issued, even if you pay the rent, the landlord may still choose to evict you. If you don't have the landlord's signed written agreement or an Order to Show Cause stopping the eviction, the City Marshal may seek to evict you even though you paid the full judgment to the landlord. In a nonpayment case, before the warrant is issued, the landlord must accept your rent and may not go forward with the eviction.
If you receive a notice of eviction and want to stop or put off your eviction go to the Landlord-Tenant Clerk's Office immediately and ask for an Order to Show Cause. (See p. 16, Section 5B, "Order to Show Cause") To find out if you are scheduled for an eviction call the City Marshal's Office listed on your notice of eviction and ask if a specific date has been set for your eviction. The phone number for the Marshal's Office will be on the notice. Call the City Marshal each day until you find out the date scheduled for your eviction. Do not wait to get an Order to Show Cause until your eviction is actually scheduled because, by that time, it may be too late.
An "Order to Show Cause" is a court order telling a person to come to court and show why the orders requested by the other side should not be granted. An Order to Show Cause can be used to ask the court to stop an eviction, to force the landlord to live up to his or her part of an agreement or the Judge's order, or to bring your case back before the Judge for any other reason.
To file Order to Show Cause go to the Housing Court Clerk's Office and ask for an Order to Show Cause. Fill out an "affidavit," which is your sworn statement explaining why you need the Court to stop your eviction or give you whatever other assistance you need. Ask the Clerk to have the Judge sign the Order to Show Cause. Ask the Clerk if you should wait or return early the next day. The Order to Show Cause will include an order preventing your eviction until your request can be heard in court at a later date. If your eviction is scheduled for that same day, be sure to tell the Clerk.
If you are being evicted because you did not come to court when you were supposed to, you must show two things in the Order to Show Cause:
If you are being evicted because you did not keep your promise in the settlement agreement or the Judge's order, you must explain that you have a good excuse for not having done so. In a nonpayment case, the Judge may not sign an Order to Show Cause stopping the eviction unless you can deposit the entire judgment amount with the Court or you can prove that you do not have all of the money because of a delay by the Department of Social Services and not through any fault on your part.
What to Do if the Judge DOES NOT Sign the Order to Show Cause:
What to Do if the Judge DOES Sign the Order to Show Cause:
First Serve the Order to Show Cause Properly:
Next Go To Court:
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