In recent years, MetLife has sought to remove illegal subtenants and tenants whose principal residences are elsewhere.

He also wrote that the authority expected it would have to submit a plan to remove unauthorized tenants "as part of this appeal."

The Raths estimate that, after they bought the building for $1.6 million, they spent $1 million - on legal fees and settlements - to remove long-time tenants.

From the 1750s, landlords in the Scottish Highlands began to forcibly remove tenants from their land, usually to replace them with more profitable sheep farming.

Freedom to charge higher rents will reopen some doors but the court orders still necessary to remove tenants could block real advances.

Some developers are eager to remove existing tenants so the generally run-down buildings can be rehabilitated to a condition more appealing to commuters.

The costs, both actual and emotional, of removing tenants should be considered part of the price of a typical conversion.

Over two years, Krislen worked aggressively to remove tenants who were disorderly or failed to pay rent.

In 1993, for instance, the city removed poor tenants from cubicles in the fetid cellar.

They said yesterday that they would appear in court today to seek to bar the landlord from removing other tenants, receiving new city contracts or selling the buildings.