Roommate Holdover
Termination Notices
In General
When Not Required
Free DIY Program
Choosing the Termination Date
Service
Taking Rent
Starting a Holdover Case
Before you can start a court case to make your roommate leave, you may need to give (serve) your roommate a “Notice of Termination.”
A “Notice of Termination” is a paper sent to your roommate with details about your decision to make your roommate move (terminate the tenancy). The notice must tell your roommate the date that he or she must leave the apartment or house that you share.
If the rental agreement is oral (just speaking) you have to serve (give) your roommate a Notice of Termination before you can start a roommate holdover case.
If the rental agreement is in writing and the lease term has not ended, you can’t start a roommate holdover case until the lease term ends. 
You do not have to serve (give) your roommate a Notice of Termination if:
1. you and your roommate have an agreement in writing (a lease), and
2. the lease term has ended, and
3. you have not taken any rent money from your roommate since the date the lease ended.
If all of the above is true, you can start a roommate holdover case.
The New York State Access to Justice Program has a free DIY (Do-It-Yourself) computer program to help you make your Notice of Termination. Or you can buy a Notice of Termination form at a legal stationary store, like Blumberg.
You must choose a “termination date” in the Notice of Termination before you can give (serve) it to your roommate. The termination date is the date that you are ending the tenancy. If the termination date is not correct the judge can dismiss the proceeding and you will have to start all over again.
Here is how to choose the right date:
Choose a termination date that is the last day of a rental period. For example:
If your roommate pays rent on the 15th of every month then the termination date must be on the 14th of the month, the last day of the monthly rental period.
If your roommate pays rent every Monday then the termination date must be on a Sunday, the last day of the weekly rental period.
If your roommate has lived in your apartment for less than one year, you must give the roommate at least 30 days notice of the termination. If the roommate has been there more than a year but less than two years, you must give 60 days notice of the termination. If the roommate has been there more than two years, you must give 90 days notice termination. This means your notice must be given to your roommate at least the required number of days before the termination date in the notice. Extra time is ok. A shorter time is not.
Choose a termination date far enough away that your served (the person that will deliver the notice to your roommate) enough time to deliver the notice. If the notice is handed to the roommate in person, the time period starts the next day. If a different method of delivery is used, the time period starts the day after the mailing is done.
If the Notice of Termination is not delivered the way the law says it should be, the judge can dismiss the proceeding and you will have to start all over again.
If you are starting the case against more than one person, each person much be must be served with their own copy of the Notice of Termination.
The rules for giving (serving) the Notice of Termination are the same as the rules for serving a Notice of Petition and Petition. Go to Service to learn more.
Do not accept rent after the termination date! If you take rent after the date you end the tenancy, you will have to start all over again and serve a new Notice of Termination.
After you terminate your roommate’s tenancy by serving the Notice of Termination, read about Starting a Roommate Holdover case to learn what to do next. You must keep the original Notice of Termination and notarized Affidavit of Service because you will need it to start your court case.
