Law Offices of James Briscoe West PLLC

If you have a roommate(s) who you want to evict from your apartment or house, should you attempt to do it yourself? While it is possible for a pro se petitioner to properly prepare and serve a predicate notice, the answer is almost uniformly No on this question. There are simply too many pitfalls and procedural traps in getting a summary proceeding to the Warrant of Eviction stage. Any Questions?

Photography by Christopher Briscoe

I am often asked whether there is something called a family exemption from summary proceedings. In other words, to evict a family member, do you need to bring an ejectment action in Civil or Supreme Court (a greater expense)? The answer is, recent Appellate cases have all but eliminated the family exemption rule.

Westlegal.org is up and running, but actively being revised. #TheRoommateGuy

You own a single or two family house in New York City, but you aren’t there very often. One day you notice a spike in the water bill and pay a visit. You discover someone inside and call the cops. When they arrive, that person shows them a deed in his name! Now what?

For example: if you own a single family house in Queens, your parent and a home care attendant live in the house. When the parent dies, the attendant decided not to leave. Now what?

Many thanks to all the people liking my revamped page... stay tuned!

Also visit me at on Twitter @JamesWest01. #TheRoommateGuy

#TheRoommateGuy

Welcome to my Facebook page. My name is James West. My area of practice is landlord tenant litigation, with a heavy emphasis on Roommate Evictions. That’s why I am often referred to as The Roommate Guy. #TheRoommateGuy. Please come visit again as I will be discussing what this means.