What can I do?

[AngryTenant2010]

I am currently renting an apartment in Jersey City, NJ. The end of my lease is coming up at the end of this month (2/28/10), so I contacted my landlord via email asking if there was anything that I needed to do... i.e. renew my lease? She then stated that she had new tenants moving in on the first of the month (March) and that we would need to be out by the 28th. Now here I am with only one month to find a new apartment. Which means we have to come up with a security deposit all over again which we were not prepared for.

Now just for some history, we had an incident a few months back and we stated that we weren't sure if we were going to stay after our lease was up. She then let us know she had another apartment which we did go see but we did not say that we were going to be taking it and that was the end of that. She took this as us giving her our notice and put the apartment back on the market. However no formal notice was ever giving and now we are basically homeless come the end of the month since she has these new tenants moving in at the beginning of the month.

Please let me know what legal action if any can be taken at this time.

 

[mightymoose]

If you didn't give notice in writing that you are leaving then you don't need to move out. Your landlord will have to evict you otherwise, and that is a lengthy process.
When your original lease expires it reverts to a month to month lease unless you sign in to a new one.
You don't need to go anywhere... don't let the landlord force you out. Contact the landlord and make it clear that you never gave notice and that you are not planning to move out. Continue to pay your rent on time... don't give the landlord a reason to boot you out. Perhaps you owe an apology for misleading the landlord if that is what happened... but you don't have to move.

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Before you assume that your lease automatically rolls over to a month to month lease, review it.

In addition, review what it might state in terms of requiring notification to the landlord that you intended to renew..or terminate..your current lease.

Keep in mind that while an eviction can be a lengthy process, it can also remain on your credit history for a significant amount of time making it more difficult to find another place to rent. Many landlords will not rent to someone with an eviction on their credit history, no matter the cause of this.

There are instances where, in New Jersey, a tenant can use the security deposit for rent. I've attached some easy to read information on what these circumstances are. If so, you can request that the deposit be used for rent this month, thus giving you a chance to save up for a new rental unit:

http://www.lsnjlaw.org/english/placeilive/irentmyhome/tenantsrights/chapterthree/index.cfm

Gail

 

[mightymoose]

The tenant here can easily argue that the comment to the landlord was not a formal notice. The landlord should have made confirmation of the intent to move out when 30 days approached. Without a written 30-day notice to the landlord this tenant should be just fine... the relationship with the landlord may be strained if not handled with care though.