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HotHoneyVintage · Aug 31, 2011, 10:47 AM

Hey my father was a landlord in NJ, is the lease he had with a tenant still valid for one year? We want to let the woman and her 2 kids go -- can we (mom's daughter and son) terminate the lease? Another thing: the lease likely wasn't valid in the first place because the property was never registered or something with the town as a legal rental. I was only told these things by the woman who is renting and now she doesn't want to pay rent for next month. So if the lease was not valid, can we just ask her to vacate in 30 days or what? Thanks!

cdad · Aug 31, 2011, 02:42 PM

In general the lease may still be valid as you are now an agent for the lease. (sorry for your dads passing).

How much time is left on the lease and why does the current renter / lessor want 1 months free rent ?

AK lawyer · Aug 31, 2011, 03:00 PM

Originally Posted by HotHoneyVintage

... I was only told these things by the woman who is renting and now she doesn't want to pay rent for next month ....

The executor of your father's estate would be entitled to collect the rent. Why does the tenant figure she doesn't have to pay rent? If she fails to pay rent when due, you (when you qualify as executor) can evict her.

HotHoneyVintage · Aug 31, 2011, 05:34 PM

Thanks the responses. The tenant has sent a letter to my brother and I saying that they were never notified about their interest accruing on their security deposit. It's NJ Security deposit act 19-26 that they cited. In that law it says the landlord must notify the tenant of interest on the security deposit within 30 days of receiving the security deposit. If the landlord fails to do so, the tenant can request the landlord apply the security deposit to the next month's rent! I looked all this up on the internet. First of all: I have no idea why my father didn't alert the tenant to that interest (maybe because he was SICK AND DYING) and second, how can me or my brother have alerted them to anything when we knew nothing about this law or the property since his death a few weeks ago? The bank owns the home we don't. Sigh. What are our options to have them evicted if my bro and I are the executors of his will? Thanks again.

HotHoneyVintage · Aug 31, 2011, 05:35 PM

**P.S. there lease is not over until July 2012... but since the landlord has died, do we still have to honor the lease agreement?

excon · Aug 31, 2011, 05:58 PM

Originally Posted by HotHoneyVintage

**P.S. there lease is not over until July 2012...but since the landlord has died, do we still have to honor the lease agreement?

Hello Hot:

The question is not do you HAVE to, but SHOULD you... If you have enough money, then you can let the renter go... But, NOBODY has enough money... You father knew he didn't have enough money... That's why he rented the house.. You SHOULD honor his business ideas...

What?? You're just going to let the house sit EMPTY?? Don't do that...

excon

HotHoneyVintage · Aug 31, 2011, 06:28 PM

Hi excon,

No the question is DO I HAVE TO? I am not worried about 'should' based on moral obligations. The renter did not give a damn about her moral obligations to us as I am dealing with this death so I am not going to do her any favors. Whether you agree with my line of logic is not the question I'm asking. So again I ask anyone on here that may know do I LEGALLY have to honor the lease agreement that ends next year? Thanks.

cdad · Aug 31, 2011, 06:30 PM

Let me ask this first. Is this a new lease? Or is it a old lease and had automatic renewal or a previous expiration ?

excon · Aug 31, 2011, 06:32 PM

Hello again, Hot:

If she wants out, and doesn't want to pay rent, you can let her go. If she WANTS to stay and pays her rent, you MUST honor the lease.

Is THAT what you want to know?

excon

PS> I wasn't looking out for your TENANT.. I was looking out for YOU. Or, so I thought...

ballengerb1 · Aug 31, 2011, 07:24 PM

This is a bit weird, I answered this post right after it was posted. My answer has disappeared from here and from my history. Yes, evict her for none payment of rent. Please further explain" The bank owns the home we don't" Did the bank foreclose or just hold the mortgage?

HotHoneyVintage · Aug 31, 2011, 08:35 PM

To answer the questions, the bank holds the mortgage. The lease was not renewed and far as I know it's the same one she signed when she moved in 3 months ago with dad, ends in 2012. The same lease she said before 'wasn't valid' is the same one she now claims she doesn't have to abide by paying rent do to the NJ security deposit law. She said she doesn't have to pay rent because she can apply her security deposit to the rent for next month due to the NJ security deposit act 19-26. It states that the landlord must notify the tenant of what bank the deposit is in and also in writing. I found a receipt where father did deposit the security check but then withdrew it later on (probably for his bills) so it's no longer in his account. I do have the money though and can replace it. Should I do so? Also, how could I or my brother have notified the tenant of anything as far as laws regarding the security deposit when neither he nor I was a renter, but just the children of the renter? excon I am wondering how I can get rid of this renter when they are citing this NJ law I mentioned earlier. They are too much trouble and I am tired and this is not the time for this type of thing for them to be doing to us. Ty

excon · Sep 1, 2011, 04:07 AM

Originally Posted by HotHoneyVintage

i am wondering how i can get rid of this renter when they are citing this NJ law I mentioned earlier. they are too much trouble and i am tired and this is not the time for this type of thing for them to be doing to us. ty

Hello again, H:

I ASSUME (because you didn't say), that your tenant, by using her security deposit as rent, is using it as her LAST MONTHS RENT, meaning that she's leaving after that month is finished. If so, do nothing, and let her go.

If she's using her last months rent and plans to PAY rent the NEXT month, then you're going to need to evict her according to NJ State landlord tenant law. While you're at it, sue her for the money she owes, too.

excon

LisaB4657 · Sep 1, 2011, 07:52 AM

I'm sorry for your loss. However I'm not going to be able to give you answers that you want to hear.

Yes, you have to honor the terms of the lease.

Yes, the tenant is entitled to have the security deposit applied to the rent as it becomes due until it has been used up. So if your father took 1.5 months rent as a security deposit then the tenant does not have to pay rent for the next 1.5 months.

Furthermore, when the lease expires in 2012 you will have to offer the tenant a renewal unless she falls within one of 16 particular categories, all of which can be found by reading http://www.nj.gov/dca/divisions/code..._lti/t_i_r.pdf.

Being a landlord in NJ can be difficult, since NJ is one of the most tenant-friendly states in the country. I suggest that you familiarize yourself with the Landlord/Tenant laws asap.

Good luck.

HotHoneyVintage · Sep 1, 2011, 08:52 AM

Lisa,

I don't believe the law can force you to rent to people you don't want to when the lease is up. I didn't sign the original lease so not going to offer a renewal of one and according to this:

When evictions are limited to just cause, while the landlord is not required to offer a new or renewal lease agreement to the tenants, he cannot evict them if they have not violated lease provisions. This results in what is called a month-to-month tenancy that continues for as long as the tenants wish, providing they continue to comply with all other terms of the original lease.

I found it on this site: http://www.ehow.com/about_6601371_tenants-rights-rental-lease-renewal.html

LisaB4657 · Sep 1, 2011, 09:13 AM

You may not want to believe it but it's true. The link I gave you is the Truth-in-Renting booklet put out by the NJ state govt. and codifies the Landlord/Tenant law in NJ.

From Renewal And Breaking, pg. 4: "No landlord of residential rental properties, except those in owner occupied two- or three-family dwellings, motels, or hotels, transient, or seasonal units, may fail to renew any lease, regardless of whether it is written or oral, unless they have good cause not to renew the lease. The good causes for eviction are detailed under the section entitled “Eviction.”

Causes For Eviction runs from pages 27 through 33 and is too much information to re-post here. However you can read it for yourself at the link I provided in my earlier response.

In essence, unless the tenant violates one of the provisions listed on pages 27 through 33, you are required to offer them a renewal lease when their current lease expires.

If you choose to trust ehow.com over NJ state law then all I can say is good luck in your future attempts at dealing with tenants and the Superior Court of NJ, Special Civil Part.

ScottGem · Sep 1, 2011, 09:18 AM

Originally Posted by HotHoneyVintage

Lisa,

I don't beleive the law can force you to rent to people you don't want to when the lease is up.

First, Lisa is a RE attorney in NJ. So I would take her advice as pretty much gospel. Second, yes the law CAN force you to rent to someone you don't like as long as they do not violate the lease. I originally wondered whether the deposit law would apply if your father was not a landlord by trade. In other words, if this was his only rental. But since Lisa said it was...

You might get a judge to be sympathetic if you can prove your father was dying at the time the lease was signed.

cdad · Sep 1, 2011, 01:59 PM

Originally Posted by HotHoneyVintage

Lisa,

I don't beleive the law can force you to rent to people you don't want to when the lease is up. I didn't sign the original lease so not going to offer a renewal of one and according to this:

When evictions are limited to just cause, while the landlord is not required to offer a new or renewal lease agreement to the tenants, he cannot evict them if they have not violated lease provisions. This results in what is called a month-to-month tenancy that continues for as long as the tenants wish, providing they continue to comply with all other terms of the original lease.

I found it on this site: Tenants Rights Rental Lease Renewal | eHow.com

You would be better served by making sure the tenant knows you want to move into the property at the expiration of the lease. You have no intent on renewal. Make sure to notify early and often.

How many rental units are involved?

HotHoneyVintage · Sep 1, 2011, 06:00 PM

I appreciate the responses, it is one rental unit (single family home). I am not trying to override Lisa or her advice, but if you all knew the problems these people are causing it is heartbreaking and must be some way to remedy the situation. People shouldn't be allowed to take advantage of housing laws when a person is deceased and their descendants. It is not a simple case of 'not liking them' but I do really feel I am being harassed and taken advantage of because my dead father is no longer in charge. They are basically trying to live rent free! What about ALL OF MY EXPENSES do to the death of this immediate loved one?

HotHoneyVintage · Sep 1, 2011, 06:16 PM

P.S. I also forgot to ask Lisa (or anyone else): know the proper and LEGAL way to notify/serve these people that we are the executors of the deceased will and are the new landlords for the remainder of the lease? Should I include the info on this document where to send the rent (the estate account) etc. or not? If I do any of it wrong they will indeed run to the courts saying we violated something. Sigh. Thanks again all, really do appreciate this.

LisaB4657 · Sep 1, 2011, 06:18 PM

Please believe me when I say I know exactly how difficult it is to deal with a tenant whose only purpose is to make your life miserable. And NJ is a very tough state for landlords. But you do have options.

Your strongest weapon is knowledge. Read the entire booklet at the link I posted. Follow it to the letter. There are methods for dealing with these people.

Do you plan on eventually selling the property? Make sure that your contract to sell contains a provision that the property must be delivered vacant. Then you will have fulfilled one of the requirements for not offering the tenant a renewal when their lease ends.

Does the tenant ever pay rent late? If they pay late for 3 months in a row then you can file a lawsuit for eviction for habitual late payment of rent.

Those are just 2 examples of how to work around these people. Read the booklet and maybe you'll find others that apply to your situation.

Good luck. And don't hesitate to keep asking questions.