When a commercial tenant stays beyond the term of a lease and refuses to leave, owners often have little alternative but to go through a time-consuming and expensive court process. Any attempt to evict the tenant by changing the locks may subject the owner to severe penalties. Significantly, under Section 853 of New York’s Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law (RPAPL), a victim of an unlawful eviction may recover an amount that is three times the damages from the malfeasant. To be clear, RPAPL 853 states:
If a person is disseized, ejected, or put out of real property in a forcible or unlawful manner, or, after he has been put out, is held and kept out by force or by putting him in fear of personal violence or by unlawful means, he is entitled to recover treble damages in an action therefore against the wrong-doer.
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