New York Tenant eviction

[willneverrentagain]

I rented a basement apt. to a woman for approximately 1 year. Back in December she stated she couldn't afford the monthly rent and rather than ask her to leave I tried to work with her by lowering her rent for 2 months while she got her finances straightened out. Mistake #1.
I won't drag this out ,but I asked her to leave the apt. and she agreed. She told me last month that she was moving and took both of her cars, left and hasn't been back, but never returned the keys and left all her furniture and belongings in there. I've called her numerous times with no success, I called the police and had a report filed because approx 3 weeks ago her son who's 18 was there with some friends. HE doesn't live there. He's now gone as well. I'm getting no response from this woman and obviously no rent. I just want the apt vacated. It's not a "legal" rental so is it ok for me to just change the locks and let her in to remove her property if she ever returns? Can I just discard all of her things? Do I have to go to court and spend all types of fees to have this done? Any advice would be helpful. I just want the apt. back for my teenage kids to have. No more renters for me. Thanks in advance for anyone who can help.

Sorry for your situation. The bottom line here is that you need to visit your local housing court. New York has probably the most tightly-controlled landlord-tenant scheme in the country. The good news is that the housing courts are very "user friendly". You could find lots of good information by doing an Internet search for the New York Unified Court System. Hope it works out. AJJ

I agree. You need to serve a Pay or Quit to the tenant or her unit (however the clerk of court says you have to do it there). Then when it expires, file to evict with the clerk of courts. NY has no abandonment laws.