Recently our office has been receiving an increased number of calls from Landlords seeking to evict tenants and who have started the process themselves.  There are however issues that arise when the eviction process is started without the guidance of an attorney.  First of all, there are certain guidelines that have to be followed regarding the time of notice given.  Rules pertaining to service of this notice are also not the same in every county.  If the service of such notice is untimely, the Landlord will be forced to start over.

Another issue is the language necessary for such notice to be valid.  Omitting necessary language can lead to delays in the eviction process as well.  Again, having some insight as to the requirements in each specific county will help.

There are several other issues that I choose not to bore you all with.  The number one reason Landlords have told us that they chose to try to do their own Notice, was to save money on legal fees.  In all honesty, the 30-day Notice is not a large portion of a fee for an eviction.  It is certainly not worth the cost to the Landlord that delaying the eviction will cause.  As with a lot of legal documents, this Notice can be done on your own.  But, it will cost more in the long-run if you do it incorrectly and it needs to be fixed.  Therefore, I strongly advise all Landlords to employ the services of an attorney to prepare and serve these documents to ensure their accuracy and compliance with all applicable statutes.  As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact our office at (516) 858-2620!