Second, the court disagrees with Kaba that service of a notice of termination or commencement of a holdover proceeding{**80 Misc 3d at 591} is an act that violates the statute's prohibition "not to evict for reason of expired lease" after acceptance of approved ERAP funds. The Legislature chose a distinct consequence for acceptance of ERAP funds as compared to the forbearance of commencement of a proceeding required while an ERAP application is pending; to wit, that the landlord cannot evict the benefitting tenant household for 12 months after first acceptance of approved monies. The Kaba court's holding is premised on construction of the word "evict" to mean something much broader than its plain meaning, i.e. the pursuit of an eviction which occurs with the service of a notice of termination. (Kaba, 2023 NY Slip Op 50187[U], *1-2.)
"Evict" has a very explicit meaning: Black's Law Dictionary defines "evict" as "[t]o expel (a person, esp. a tenant), from real property, usu. by legal process" and "[t]o recover (property or title) from a person by legal process." (Black's Law Dictionary 697 [11th ed 2019].) Merriam-Webster's defines "evict" as "to recover (property) from a person by legal process . . . to force out." (Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, evict [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evict] [last accessed June 24, 2023].) It must be construed that the Legislature intended the plain meaning of the transitive action verb "evict." (See Myers v Schneiderman, 30 NY3d 1, 12 [2017] ["(C)ourts may not reject a literal construction (of a statute) unless it is evident that a literal construction does not correctly reflect the legislative intent" (citation and internal quotation marks omitted)]; Matter of Albano v Kirby, 36 NY2d 526, 530 [1975] ["No rule of constructi