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.
