What makes a bad landlord?
There are many stories of bad landlords but most of them can be fixed with help from local and NJ State Laws! Think you're in a bad situation? Here is some advice on the laws. However, check with a lawyer and look up the laws for yourself before going through with these! We are not responsible for the outcome of your actions.
Improper Eviction notice
You can get an eviction complaint dismissed if the landlord did not give you a proper notice to cease and/or a proper notice to quit before taking you to court. This is a very important and common defense. These notices must specifically and in detail describe the conduct that is causing eviction and give you the correct amount of time before going to court. Notices must be very specific so that tenants know exactly what is expected of them and how to prepare for trial. Landlords must “strictly comply” with notice requirements and, if they do not, you should argue that the eviction action should be dismissed. Remember that the landlord does not have to give you any notice to evict you for nonpayment of rent, however you may fight it in court (See Withholding Rent). Cite: N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.2.
Carefully read the notice to cease and the notice to quit before you go to court. If you only received a notice to quit, find out if the Anti-Eviction Act requires the landlord to first serve you with a notice to cease.
Here are some common examples of improper notices. If you think the notice that you receive from your landlord is improper in these or other ways, or even if you are not sure, tell the judge, give him or her the notice to review, and ask that the eviction complaint be dismissed because you received improper notice.
Carefully read the notice to cease and the notice to quit before you go to court. If you only received a notice to quit, find out if the Anti-Eviction Act requires the landlord to first serve you with a notice to cease.
Here are some common examples of improper notices. If you think the notice that you receive from your landlord is improper in these or other ways, or even if you are not sure, tell the judge, give him or her the notice to review, and ask that the eviction complaint be dismissed because you received improper notice.
- You receive a notice to quit telling you that you have to move for playing loud music at night. You did not receive a notice to cease first. The notice is improper because you must receive both notices in their correct order.
- You receive a notice to cease that tells you to stop playing loud music at night. The landlord then sends a notice to quit that tells you to move because you have too many visitors. The notice is improper because the notice to quit must relate to the same type of conduct complained about in the notice to cease.
- On March 31, your landlord sends you a notice to quit stating that you must leave your apartment in one month, or by April 30, because she claims that you have not obeyed her notice to cease, which told you to stop violating the rules in your lease. The landlord does not wait until April 30 to start the eviction case. Instead, she files an eviction complaint on April 20, and you are served with the summons and complaint saying that you must appear in court on May 3. This notice is improper because you did not get the full one-month notice to quit. The landlord cannot start the eviction case until the time stated in the notice to quit has run out.
- You receive a notice to quit that tells you to move because you broke one of the rules in the lease. The notice does not describe the specific rule that you broke and specifically what you did to break the rule. This notice is improper because the notice must tell you exactly what rules were broken and how you broke them (dates, times, description). Cite: A.P. Development Corp. v. Band, 113 N.J. 485 (1988).
Refusing Repairs and what can be done
If your landlord fails to make the repairs in a reasonable period of time, call the local building inspector and ask him or her to inspect the property as soon as possible. If you can, be present when the inspector does the inspection so that you can point out all of the problems. Ask for the inspector’s name, and ask him or her to send you a copy of the report.
If your housing unit fails inspection, it must be reinspected by the housing or health code inspector. You might find that a re-inspection does not take place. If this happens, you should call the inspector and inform him or her that the landlord has not made the required repairs.
If, on re-inspection, the inspector finds that the landlord has not made the repairs, another inspection will be scheduled. If violations are still not corrected, the building inspector should then give a summons to the landlord to appear in municipal court. If found guilty, the landlord can be fined.
Ewing's House Inspectors can be contacted here.
If your housing unit fails inspection, it must be reinspected by the housing or health code inspector. You might find that a re-inspection does not take place. If this happens, you should call the inspector and inform him or her that the landlord has not made the required repairs.
If, on re-inspection, the inspector finds that the landlord has not made the repairs, another inspection will be scheduled. If violations are still not corrected, the building inspector should then give a summons to the landlord to appear in municipal court. If found guilty, the landlord can be fined.
Ewing's House Inspectors can be contacted here.
Using Rent for Repairs
Under certain conditions, tenants can use the rent money to make the repairs. After making the repairs, the tenant subtracts the cost of the repairs from the rent instead of paying it to the landlord as rent. This is called repair and deduct. There are certain rules for repair and deduct that you must follow:
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Withholding Rent
By withholding rent, tenants put pressure on the landlord to make repairs, and they avoid paying for services they are not receiving. Withholding rent is perfectly legal and often can be the only way to force the landlord to make necessary repairs. Only do this if conditions will affect your heath and safety!
There are two steps you must take if you decide to withhold rent to force the landlord to make repairs:
Some landlords will try to scare tenants by sending letters and notices threatening eviction instead of making the repairs. If your landlord does this, you should expect that sooner or later the landlord will bring a complaint in court for your eviction for not paying rent. This is where saving the rent you withheld becomes very important. You cannot be evicted for nonpayment of rent if you have saved all of the rent and you appear in court with it on the day you are summoned.
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