Is it "customary practice when selling a house that has tenants" to have a lawyer send a letter of eviction to the tenants?

In New York a new purchaser must prove to a housing court that he or she needs the space for his or her own family. You can tie them up for years.

@dpworkin: but they don’t want to tie them up.

@BraveWarrior: It sounds like a formality. There’s no argument; it’s not personal. Right?
Call your landlady to make sure there’s not an issue you haven’t understood.
Legal stuff always feels mean. But
“eviction” doesn’t have to mean what you think it does.

I agree with @susanc : legal stuff is often formal and sounds harsh. the letter did say “we know you are moving” so i’m sure they just want to formalize the proceedings in case you change your mind. you should check the laws regarding housing in your state but on the other hand, you are moving anyway, so why bother?

Of course they must start the eviction process in case you do not move on your own. I don’t see this as a problem since you are moving on your own anyway. Don’t get worked up about it if there is no actual problem.

Thanks all very much for your answers. My concerns are that an eviction notice could hurt us in the future, say, by ending up on our credit report. After all, it is coming from a lawyer, not from the realtor or the landlord. Since we’ve only paid by cash payments & the landlord (or since she’s become disabled, her father or other family member) has never given us a receipt, I’m afraid we wouldn’t be able to prove that we’ve always paid and on time. (I know, big mistake, one we’ll never repeat.) Even waiting til mid May to move out, the closing won’t be after we move out (June earliest) as the purchaser doesn’t even have the mortage yet, so why would they start an eviction process? Wouldn’t eviction notices become part of some type of public record? In addition to not being on my credit report, I wouldn’t want my friends, family, neighbors, coworkers to think we’ve been evicted from our home, like some deadbeats.
I’m sorry to go on & on but I’m just so upset about this. Thanks for understanding.

@BraveWarrior: Does the eviction notice say that you haven’t paid on time? I think there is a big difference between eviction for nonpayment or violations vs eviction for eminent domain, chemical spill, etc.

@malevolentbutticklish We haven’t received the notice yet, only the email from the realtor saying we’ll be receiving one from the lawyer. We asked the realtor if we can get a copy in advance so we can consult a lawyer ourselves, but haven’t gotten a response yet.

@BraveWarrior the eviction process will only hurt if it goes to court and a judgment is passed against you with a court-ordered removal. Otherwise, the seller and/or buyer are just making sure that all the t’s and i’s are crossed and dotted as may be required for the closing.

@susanc @jca @malevolentbutticklish @njnyjobs Thank you so much. I really feel much better and calmer now. I really appreciate your taking the time to answer me, and for not making me feel foolish. Thanks again.

@BraveWarrior: you aren’t foolish. But establish a paper trail next time, like you said!!

Look at the Tenants rights website for New York.

@YARNLADY Thank you for the suggestion.

For anyone else who might benefit, here are the links for 2 sites I found which are for New York State (not just NYC):

Tenants Rights Guide
http://www.oag.state.ny.us/bureaus/real_estate_finance/pdfs/tenants_rights_guide.pdf

30 Strategies for Guarding Your Tenant Rights
http://www.mcadamslaw.net/tenantrightsreport.html

Ok, the Realtor called and apologized, saying that she was wrong to call it an “eviction” notice. She said it is a 30 day notice ending the month-to-month tenantcy. I found this to be legitimate in the Tenants Rights Guide (so thanks again @YARNLADY for that suggestion). Thanks again, everyone!