Eviction notice

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demingm13

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My landlord just sent me an eviction notice giving me two months notice to get out of my apartment. The reason he gave is that "Landlord wishes to occupy your apartment for personal uses - daughter (leaving out name) shall occupy the unit outside of a landord-tenant relation".

I went to a website that describes the causes for eviction in NJ, and the only one I could find that was close was if the owner or landlord wanted to move into the apartment, not if one of their relatives wanted to. I'm trying to determine if this is a loop hole for this cause of eviction and if I have a case, or if I need to start looking for another place.

I can't post the website I looked at yet but if you google NJ tenant rights it should come right up.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Your landlord cannot provide you with an eviction notice. Only a court can actually grant this.

Your landlord can provide you with a "notice to vacate" which may or may not be enforceable.

What type of lease are you on? Monthly or yearly?

Gail
 
Apologies, I misspoke, he actually supplied us with a notice to quit (vacate) and gave us the reason I mentioned above. I am on a month to month lease, unwritten. My landlord lives in Texas so I think it would be pretty easy to prove that he himself is not moving in, but I wasn't sure if that mattered or not and if he can have a relative move in in his place so long as that relative is not paying rent. The law clearly saws the landlord needs to move in but I wasn't sure.

Other things worthy of note, there is another tenant upstairs, and I'm pretty sure they haven't been approached on this topic. Not sure if it had any bearing on this particular case but I wanted to add as much detail as possible.
 
Because you are a month to month tenant, in your state a landlord need only give a 30 day written notice before the date the rent is due that the lease will be terminated.

You could do exactly the same thing if you wished to vacate the premise.

No reason has to be given why the landlord wishes to terminate the lease so your landlord didn't even need to give the explanation of the family member moving in.

This is why many tenants (and landlords) like month to month leases; they are easy to terminate.

You need to start looking for another place to rent.

I hope this helps to clear this matter up.

http://books.google.com/books?id=2j...&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=8&ct=result

Gail
 
Thanks Gail. I have heard a lot of the same from many people I have spoken to, but then I stumbled upon a site that explicitly explains the tenant-landlord law of NJ. I can't post the link as I don't have enough posts, but if you google NJ Tenant rights its the first site that comes up. Below is a few sections I found particularly interesting:

From Chapter 4:

The term of the lease
A lease will contain a term (a length of time that you agree to rent the property). It is usually a month, six months, or a year. If your lease has no set length of time, the term is automatically a month if the rent is paid on a monthly basis. This means that your agreement runs from month to month. Cite: N.J.S.A. 46:8-10. Just because you have a month-to-month lease does not mean that the landlord can get you out at the end of any month. You don't have to leave just because the term of your lease is up. The law contains special rules for evicting tenants. See Chapter 5, Ending or Breaking Your Lease, for more about this.

From Chapter 5:

NOTE! Before you end or break a lease, you must understand a basic rule about landlord-tenant law in New Jersey. Because of the Anti-Eviction Act, you cannot be evicted simply because your lease ends. As explained in Chapter 9, The Causes for Eviction, a tenant can only be evicted if the landlord can prove one of the good causes for eviction under the law. The ending or expiration of a lease is not a good cause for eviction. This means that, however long your lease, you do not have to move just because your lease has ended. It also means that, unless you or the landlord end your lease, all yearly leases and month-to-month leases automatically renew themselves. The only exception to this rule is if you live in a building with only two or three apartments and the landlord lives in one of the apartments.

Why end a lease?

Landlords and tenants have different reasons for wanting to end a lease. As stated above, a landlord cannot evict you just because your lease is over. Because of this, the only reason for a landlord to end your lease is to offer you a new lease with different terms, such as a higher rent or new rules and regulations. By ending your lease, the landlord cannot get you to move but can require you to pay more rent or to follow new rules.

From Chapter 9:

Eviction only for cause

EVICTION FOR CAUSE IS a basic rule of landlord-tenant law in New Jersey. This means that tenants can be evicted only under one of the causes or grounds for eviction listed in the Anti-Eviction Act. Cite: N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1. There are 18 different causes for eviction under the Anti-Eviction Act. No tenant can be evicted unless the landlord can establish one of these grounds. The law covers tenants in all types of rental property: a single-family house, an apartment building or complex, or a mobile home. The causes for eviction in the Anti-Eviction Act are listed below.

Chapter 9 Contents:

* The Causes for Eviction
o Eviction only for cause
+ Exceptions to eviction for cause
# Tenants in foreclosed property
# What if you are not covered by eviction for cause?
o Grounds for eviction (N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1)

The Causes for Eviction

Eviction only for cause

EVICTION FOR CAUSE IS a basic rule of landlord-tenant law in New Jersey. This means that tenants can be evicted only under one of the causes or grounds for eviction listed in the Anti-Eviction Act. Cite: N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1. There are 18 different causes for eviction under the Anti-Eviction Act. No tenant can be evicted unless the landlord can establish one of these grounds. The law covers tenants in all types of rental property: a single-family house, an apartment building or complex, or a mobile home. The causes for eviction in the Anti-Eviction Act are listed below.

Exceptions to eviction for cause
Almost all tenants are covered by the Anti-Eviction Act. However, the law does not apply to tenants residing in buildings or houses with three or fewer apartments where the owner lives in one of the apartments. This is known as the "owner-occupied" exception. Tenants subject to the owner-occupied exception may be evicted at the end of the lease term for any reason. If you are a month-to-month tenant living in a building with three or fewer apartments and your landlord lives in one of those apartments, the landlord needs only to give you a month's notice to quit before taking you to court. Cite: N.J.S.A. 2A:18-53.

Other exceptions involve tenants with developmental disabilities who permanently occupy a unit. The Anti-Eviction Act does not protect tenants in these situations. The aim of this provision is to enable the eviction without cause of co-tenants living with the developmentally disabled tenant.

As explained in Chapter 8, The Nuts and Bolts of Fighting Evictions, hotel and motel guests are not covered by the Anti-Eviction Act, unless they have no other home and live there on a continual basis. The Anti-Eviction Act does cover people who are living in rooming and boarding homes. Chapter 8 discusses protections for rooming and boarding house residents.

l. The owner wants to live in the apartment or house

Notices required:

* Notice to quit—must be served on the tenant at least two months before filing the eviction suit. If there is a written lease, the eviction suit cannot be filed until after the lease expires.

Comments:

* Only applies where (1) the landlord is converting the apartment into a condominium and wants to sell it to a buyer who will move in; (2) the owner of three or fewer condominium or cooperative units wants to move in, or is selling the unit to a buyer who wants to move in; or (3) the owner of a house or building with three or fewer apartments wants to move in or is selling the house or building to a buyer who wants to move in.

* If the landlord is selling to a buyer who wants to move in, there must be a contract for sale and the contract must state that the house or apartment will be vacant at the time of closing.

* The buyer or owner must intend to live in the house or apartment and not convert it to commercial use. Cite: Aquino Colonial Funeral Home v. Pittari, 245 N.J. Super. 585 (App. Div. 1991).

This last paragraph is the clause I think my landlord is trying to use. Let me know what you think. Not that I'm trying to discredit the source you quoted but this is telling me something different altogether.

Thanks.
 
I've been following the gist of the postings on the "other" landlord list also.

Let me suggest what might happen if you insist on staying in your current place, citing New Jersey regulations. And yes, New Jersey is a very tenant friendly state.

Your landlord will likely raise the rent considerably or (as is stated) change the rules and regulations, making it fairly uncomfortable for you to continue living there.

Gail
 
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