Answer (responding in court)

You have the right to file a written answer with the court. The answer explains why you should not be evicted. You can file it on your own if you do not have a lawyer yet. In it, you can point out mistakes your landlord made, such as a wrong notice. Mistakes in the process can delay an eviction. Call the court clerk and ask how many days you have to file.

Go to your hearing no matter what so you are not automatically found guilty. If you lose, you have 5 days to appeal to County Court. The 5 days include weekends and holidays. You can stay home during the appeal if you pay rent to the court. Pay the first amount to the Justice Court within 5 days of filing your appeal. If you cannot afford the appeal costs, ask the court to let you skip the fees. The court form for this is called a "fee waiver".