when a landlord wishes to evict you as a holdover tenant they generally must serve you with a notice of termination though as noted above this is regulated by the state and so can vary from state to state the notice precipitates the holdover proceeding in new york state a notice of termination must be served in the following circumstances 2 
the notice must tell you the reason for the termination the date on which you must move and that the landlord will begin legal action if you don t comply by the deadline reasons can include the expiration of a lease bad behavior as a tenant being too noisy for example or having an unapproved pet being a subtenant without the landlord s knowledge being a squatter moving in without the landlord s knowledge unreasonably refusing the landlord access to the property and having made unapproved physical changes to the premises such as putting up a wall 2 however you are not entitled to receive a notice of termination if your lease has expired but you have remained in the property without paying rent in that case a landlord can begin a holdover proceeding without notice 2 