Generally, New Jersey breaks down
Landlord/Tenant relationships into two different
categories. The first are governed by
N.J.S.A.
2A:18-53 et al. and applies in most cases to
commercial tenants, seasonal tenants and housing
where there are three or less units and the Landlord
occupies at least one of the units. In these cases,
as long as the proper notices are sent and there is
no lease, the Tenant may be evicted usually after 30
days notice. Tenants in these situations do not have
what are known as rights under the “Anti-Eviction
Act”.
All other tenancies are governed by N.J.S.A.
2A:18-61.1. This includes condominiums,
single-family homes and most other tenancies. The
Tenant protected under the statute can only be
evicted for what is called “good cause”.
Additionally, there are many procedural requirements
and notices that must be given properly in order to
have the grounds to evict. A non-exhaustive list of
reasons to evict a tenant who is protected includes
without limitation the following: (1) where the
tenant owes the landlord rent; (2) where the tenant
does not abide by the rules of the landlord, the
lease or is disorderly and bothering other tenants;
(3) damages caused by a tenant to the premises; (4)
a tenant refuses to accept reasonable changes or
reasonable increases in rent; (5) the owner of a
one-, two- or three-family house or three
condominium units or less seeks to either occupy the
unit or sell the unit to somebody who seeks to
personally occupy it.
There are several other grounds to evict the tenant
that come up less frequently but do exist. A
complete list of reasons can be found at
N.J.S.A.
2A:18-61.1.
It is important that when trying to evict a tenant
for one of these reasons that the proper notices,
which vary from case-to-case, are served and are
served properly. For this reason, hiring the proper
attorney can be of valuable assistance in evicting
your tenant. |
