Tenants can assert defenses to eviction in New Jersey including defective notice, waivers due to collecting rent or passing of time, uninhabitable condition, bankruptcy, lack of registration or certificate of occupancy, and retaliation. Tenants must prove their defenses at trial.
Ejectment is the legal process in New Jersey for removing an non-tenants, including squatters, and friends and family that refuse to leave. Ejectment involves filing a lawsuit, court hearings, and lock-out by the county sheriff.
Tenants can rent property as tenants at-will, month-to-month, year-to-year, or in another agreed upon arrangement. New Jersey law on legal notices and evictions can be different for each type of tenant.
New Jersey law sets forth how landlords collect, hold, and return security deposits. Keeping a security deposit improperly can result in paying “double” the deposit to the tenant, court costs, and attorney fees.
Wondering how to evict a tenant in New Jersey? The eviction process includes notices, a complaint, proving the case, overcoming defenses, and locking out.
Tenants that break a rental lease in New Jersey can lose their security deposit, as well suffer damages for a landlord’s lost rental income. Breaking a lease has legal consequences.