Best Eviction Attorneys in Syracuse, NY: Why Your Attorney Choice Matters

Hiring the wrong eviction attorney in Syracuse will cost you more than the attorney fee. It will cost you months of lost rent, a tenant who knows they can stall, and a case that drags on until you want to set the building on fire.

We have been through this enough times to know the difference between an attorney who handles evictions and an attorney who actually wins them quickly. The gap is enormous.

Why You Need an Eviction Attorney in New York

New York has the most tenant-friendly eviction laws in the country. The process is procedural, technical, and full of traps. One wrong notice, one missed deadline, one improperly served petition, and your case gets dismissed. The tenant stays. You start over from scratch.

Here is what a typical eviction timeline looks like in Onondaga County when everything goes right:

• Serve proper notice (14-day for nonpayment, 30-day for holdover in most cases)
• File petition and notice of petition with City Court
• Serve tenant with petition (must be done properly or case is dead)
• Court hearing (usually 2-4 weeks out)
• If judgment granted, tenant gets 14 days (or more) to vacate
• If tenant does not leave, file warrant of eviction with marshal or sheriff
• Marshal executes warrant (another 1-2 weeks)

Best case scenario from start to finish: 6-8 weeks. Realistic scenario with adjournments and tenant stalling: 3-6 months. Worst case with a tenant who fights everything: 6-12 months.

Every month your case drags is another month of lost rent. If rent is $1,200/month and the case takes 5 months, that is $6,000 in lost income before you even count attorney fees, court costs, and unit damage.

What to Look for in an Eviction Attorney

Not every attorney is cut out for landlord-tenant work. This is a specialized area of law with specific procedural requirements that change between jurisdictions. Here is what matters:

Experience in Landlord-Tenant Law

You want an attorney who handles evictions regularly, not occasionally. Someone who files petitions weekly, not twice a year. They should know the procedural requirements by memory. They should know which mistakes get cases dismissed and how to avoid them.

Knows the Local Courts

Syracuse City Court, Onondaga County courts, town courts in the suburbs. Each has quirks. Each has different judges with different tendencies. An attorney who practices in these courts every week knows how things actually work, not just how the statute reads.

Fast Response Time

Eviction cases are time-sensitive. Every day you wait to start the process is another day the tenant lives rent-free. You need an attorney who answers the phone, returns calls the same day, and moves fast.

Clear Fee Structure

Most eviction attorneys work on a flat fee basis for straightforward nonpayment or holdover cases. Expect to pay $750 to $2,500 depending on complexity. Hourly billing for evictions is a red flag. It means the attorney is not confident enough in the process to quote a fixed price.

Who We Use: Anthony Galli at Galli Law

We use Anthony Galli at Galli Law for our evictions. The guy is a pitbull. He knows landlord-tenant law inside and out, he knows the local courts, and he does not waste time. When you hire an attorney who actually specializes in this, cases move faster and you stop hemorrhaging rent to tenants who should have been out months ago.

Anthony C. Galli, Esq.
Galli Law
6555 Ridings Road, Syracuse, NY 13206
Phone: 315-480-1954
Website: galli-law.com

Anthony specializes in real estate law, construction disputes, and landlord-tenant matters. He is BBB accredited, a member of the New York State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. We have worked with him for years across dozens of eviction cases in Syracuse and the surrounding area.

What sets him apart from the general practice attorneys who “also do evictions” is speed and accuracy. His notices are bulletproof. His petitions are filed correctly the first time. He does not give tenants procedural loopholes to exploit. When a case can be resolved at the first hearing, it gets resolved at the first hearing.

Why This Matters More Than You Think

We have seen landlords try to save money by using a general practice attorney or a family friend who “does some real estate law.” The case gets filed late. The notice period is wrong. The petition has a technical defect. The tenant’s attorney (or the tenant themselves, because they looked it up online) spots the error and moves to dismiss.

Case dismissed. Start over. Another 2-3 months added to the timeline. The $500 you saved on attorney fees just cost you $3,600 in lost rent.

Why General Practice Attorneys Are Bad for Evictions

A general practice attorney handles car accidents, divorces, wills, small business disputes, and occasionally an eviction. They look up the statute, draft a notice, file a petition, and hope for the best.

The problem is that New York landlord-tenant law is full of procedural landmines that you only learn by doing this work constantly.

• Notice requirements are different for different types of tenancies (lease vs. month-to-month vs. holdover)
• Service requirements are specific and strictly enforced
• The petition must contain specific allegations in specific language
• Certain defenses (warranty of habitability, retaliation, improper notice) must be anticipated and addressed proactively
• Good Cause Eviction adds another layer of complexity for covered units

A general practice attorney who handles one eviction a quarter is not going to catch all of this. A specialist who handles evictions every week will.

The Real Cost of Getting It Wrong

Let us put real numbers on this. Say you have a tenant paying $1,500/month who stopped paying rent in January.

Scenario A: You hire a specialist. Notice served properly in January. Petition filed in February. Hearing in early March. Judgment granted. Warrant executed by late March. Total time: about 3 months. Lost rent: $4,500. Attorney fee: $1,500. Total cost: $6,000.

Scenario B: You hire a generalist. Notice has a technical defect. Case dismissed in March. Refile in April. New hearing in May. Tenant requests adjournment. Next hearing in June. Judgment granted. Warrant in July. Total time: about 7 months. Lost rent: $10,500. Attorney fee: $2,000 (hourly billing added up). Total cost: $12,500.

The difference is $6,500. That is the cost of hiring the wrong attorney. And this does not even account for unit damage during those extra months or the cost of turnover repairs.

When to Call an Attorney

Call your eviction attorney the moment a tenant is late on rent and does not respond to your initial contact. Do not wait 30 days hoping they will pay. Do not wait until you are frustrated. Start the process early because the process itself takes months.

Many landlords wait too long because they feel bad or they think the tenant will come through. By the time they call an attorney, they have already lost 2-3 months of rent. The legal process then takes another 3-4 months. That is half a year of lost income on a single unit.

The best landlords we know have their attorney on speed dial and start the process within 10 days of nonpayment. They are not heartless. They are realistic about how long the process takes in New York.

DIY Eviction: Do Not Do It

We get asked about this regularly. Can you handle an eviction yourself without an attorney?

Technically, yes. You can file pro se in most New York courts. But we strongly advise against it. The procedural requirements are too specific and the consequences of getting it wrong are too expensive. One dismissed petition adds months to the timeline.

And whatever you do, never attempt a self-help eviction. Changing locks, shutting off utilities, removing belongings, or threatening a tenant to make them leave is a Class A misdemeanor under RPAPL 768. You will get arrested. We know from experience. We wrote about what happened to us in our article on unlawful eviction in New York.

Eviction Tips From Experience

After managing properties in Syracuse, Oswego, Auburn, and Utica, here is what we have learned:

• Document everything from day one of the tenancy. Written communication only. Texts and emails create a paper trail.
• Send a formal late notice on day 5. Do not call. Put it in writing.
• Call your attorney on day 10 if there is no payment and no communication.
• Never accept partial payment once the eviction process has started without talking to your attorney first. It can reset the clock.
• Take photos of the unit condition at move-in and at every inspection. Timestamped.
• Keep copies of every notice served, with proof of service.

Talk to Us

If you are dealing with a problem tenant in Central New York and need to get the eviction process started, call RenPro Property Management at 315-400-2654. We can walk you through the process and connect you with the right attorney for your situation.