[TracyM]

My finance and I recently moved into an apartment in Jersey City, NJ in February of this year. We have been having problems paying rent... new jobs and transportation have gotten too expensive for us. We have been paying on time but have just barely been making it by each month. So, we spoke to the landlord and she verbally agreed to us leaving as long as we found another renter to move is as we moved out.

This past month we wrote her a check and gave it to her on time on the 5th of the month. She waited until the 25th to deposit the check at which time it bounced by $2. The lease says that we will have to pay the bank fee, which is fine, but she says we owe her a late fee of $100. No where in the lease does it say we owe her a late fee if the check bounces.

Also, she is refusing to give us our security deposit back because she says by moving out we are breaking the lease. I thought NJ requires the security deposit to be given back even if the lease is broken. Also, it requires the deposit be put into a separate bank account that earns interest and that information be given to the tenants... she has not done this... :confused:
What do I need to do about getting this back?
I am trying to get it in writing that she is letting us out of the lease when we find a new tenant (she has been showing the apartment this past month)

Also, do I owe her the late fee ?

[LisaB4657]

Here's some good news for you. NJ law says that if the landlord fails to tell you in writing where your security deposit is held within 30 days after you provide the full deposit, then the landlord must apply your deposit to rent at your written request and then they are not entitled to ask for a new deposit. The law to cite for this is N.J.S.A. 46:8-19. So send a letter to your landlord (2 copies, one by regular mail and one by certified mail) telling her that she must apply your security deposit to rent as it becomes due.

It's my opinion that the landlord cannot charge a late fee if there isn't one included in the written lease. So if I were in your position I would not pay it.

Once a new tenant moves in you are no longer responsible for the rent. So hopefully she will have a new tenant within the next 6 weeks and you won't owe anything else.

[TracyM]

Will this still apply if it an owner occupied building? She lives in the bottom apartment and we live in the top apartment.

[LisaB4657]

Normally it would not apply to an owner-occupied 2 or 3 family dwelling. However the tenant can make it applicable by sending a letter to the landlord asking them to fulfill the requirements of the Security Deposit Law. Then the landlord has 30 days to inform you where the security deposit is being held. If she doesn't inform you (in writing) within 30 days after you make the request then you can have her apply the security deposit to rent.

[Fr_Chuck]

First why are you trying to blame the landlord for your check bouncing, if she waited 2 months to cash it, you write it in your check book and the money stays there, you spent the money on something else, so I can't understand in the slightest how you start by blameing her for cashing the check a couple week latter, the money should have been there.
Next her bank most likely will have charged her a fee for the bad check, and even if not in the lease, she would have the right to collect any bad check fees she would have been charged, plus any bank issues your bounce check would have caused.

The others are right about the deposit,
Next are you moving out before you find a tenant, since you could not get a deposit back after you moved out until another tenant is in, and will have to continue to pay rent there until you find someone.

Does the lease say you have to pay a late fee if the rent is not paid on time?? If the check bounced, it was not paid, so it is late, a bad check is not a payment.

[TracyM]

We have no moved out yet. Our agreement with the landlord is that we would stay and keep paying rent until she found another tenant. We we bring up the issue of the security deposit he tells us we will not receive it back even after we move outand someone else moves in. That is the main issue.

[TracyM]

The late fee is minimal compared to the $2000 security deposit.

[LisaB4657]

The landlord must return the security deposit within 30 days after the end of the tenancy, regardless of the reason for the ending of the tenancy. If a new tenant moves in then your tenancy is ended. So the landlord must return your deposit (minus any costs for damages or unpaid rent).

If the landlord does not return your security deposit, or a written detailed accounting of your security deposit within 30 days after the end of the tenancy then you can file a lawsuit. If you win the judge may grant you double the amount that was wrongfully withheld.

[ScottGem]

As Chuck indicated the landlord is not responsible for the check bouncing. They did you a favor by delaying cashing the check, enabling you to take advantage of the float. On the other hand, they can't charge you a late fee not in the lease. But they are entitled to recover any bank fees charged them as a result of the check bouncing, so you can ask for an accoutning of that.

As for the deposit, I think you have a choice here. In most states, the landlord can use a security deposit for unpaid rent. So when you know when you will be moving, just don't pay the last months rent and let the landlord take it out of the deposit. You will need to be careful to show that there were no damages to the unit so the landlord can't come after you for them.