Summary proceedings were designed to accord a landlord a rapid method for recovering rented premises, whether by the expiration of the tenancy, or for the failure of the tenant to pay rent during that term. Over the past several decades, there has been a controversy as to whether summary nonpayment proceedings (RPAPL §711(2)) may be maintained after the expiration of a lease. In other words, whether the landlord can sue for possession of the property and for any past due rent in the same case at the same time. The issue remains incompletely settled in the First Department, although it has recently come to rest in the Second and Third Departments, with no reported decisions addressing the controversy in the Fourth Department.

After a Lease Expires

As a general proposition, absent rent regulation, a landlord is under no obligation to renew a lease.1 In unregulated tenancies, when the lease is expired, whether commercial or residential, Real Property Law (RPL) §232-c decrees that the landlord’s acceptance of rent after expiration creates a month-to-month tenancy. Inside New York City, under RPL §232-a, the landlord can terminate such tenancies with a 30-day notice served in the same manner as a notice of petition,2 outside NYC, under RPL §232-b, with a one-month notification (not necessarily in writing).3

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