Landlord refusing certified mail

[MagnifyMobile]

Wow!

This just keeps getting better and better. I am literally in shock by what I just found out from my roommate. A few days ago my roommate got a letter that was sent to his former address (grandmother's house). The letter was from a lending company that advised him that a recent loan he applied for was rejected because the credit application was incomplete. He showed it to me and I told him to call the number, because someone may have stolen his identity. He called the number and this is what he was told. He was told that back in March he had applied for an auto loan at a car dealership. Guess what dealership? The one that is owned by our landlord! He never even set foot in that place and he drives a 2010 Mazda 6 in pristine condition, he had no reason to apply for a loan at some hole in the wall $5000 a car auto lot. So remembering back when we moved in the landlord asked for photocopies of our drivers licenses, social security numbers, as well as copies of recent paystubs. Pretty much everything needed to fill out a credit app. So basically he tried to take out a loan of some kind using his dealership itself. Tomorrow he is going to the local police and reporting this, I have a feeling this guy is going to be in a whole heap of trouble. I am utterly stunned that he would take such a bold and brazen move, and the question is has he done this already to others in the past? I have heard of cases where these shady auto dealerships would take out bogus loans using customer information, and almost every time it's multiple victims. Who would have thought it would come to this?

 

[justalayman]

46A:2-2. Five day grace period for payment of rent; senior citizens and recipients of certain
governmental benefits; residential premises

a. A lease for residential rental premises shall permit a period of five business days grace
from the date that rent is due, if the tenant is:

(1) a senior citizen receiving a Social Security Old Age Pension, or other governmental
pension in lieu thereof, or a Railroad Retirement Pension; or

(2) a recipient of Social Security Disability Benefits, Supplemental Security Income or
benefits under Work First New Jersey.

b. No delinquency or other late charge may be imposed under a residential lease during
the grace period provided by this section.

c. Any person in violation of this section is a disorderly person.

d. In an action for eviction or an action by a landlord to collect unpaid rent, a court shall
consider this section in determining the amount due from a tenant covered by this section.

e. In an action for eviction for habitual late payment of rent, the five-day grace period is
not calculated in determining whether a rent payment is habitually late.

first, do you fit the description in the statute such that the law even applies to you? If not, you are late if it hits midnight on the day your rent is due. He can then charge a late fee and initiate a pay or quit demand.

other than that, it simply prevents a late fee from being imposed during that grace period and it is not time that would count for the purposes of an eviction. Regardless, if you do not pay when it is due, you are still late and it can be recorded as such.

and for the rest of NJ law on the subject

http://www.lawrev.state.nj.us/landlordtenant/landlordtenantFR021012.pdf

 

[TigerD]

Anything that the former tenant left now belongs to me.

No. It doesn't.

DC

 

[justalayman]

the more I read the actual law, the more I see you have no idea what the law actually says. First thing was the 5 day grace (sorry about the repeat. Internet is slow to load so I skipped a few things).

Next is this applying the deposit to the rent matter.

i. Notwithstanding this section or any other law to the contrary, no deductions shall be
made from a security deposit of a tenant who remains in possession of the rental premises.
However, the tenant may:

(1) apply to rent due or to become due, in accordance with section 46A:13-7, a security
deposit not lawfully collected or maintained by a landlord; or

(2) apply a lawfully collected and maintained security deposit to the payment of unpaid
rent if a court determines that doing so will avoid the entry of a judgment of possession against
the tenant, the landlord and the tenant both agree to apply the security deposit to the payment of
unpaid rent, which may include a repayment schedule, if appropriate, and the court approves the
payment and any agreed-to schedule on the record. As part of its approval, the court shall
require that the tenant restore the security deposit or be subject to the consequences of not doing
so in accordance with subsection j.;

unless the deposit was unlawfully collected or a court says the deposit can be applied to rent, you cannot apply the deposit to the rent. In fact, it is specifically forbidden.

re: the landlords right of entry and/or the landlord having a key to the place:

if there is a requirement in the lease you provide a key, you have to. Otherwise there is no requirement you provide a key. Just a word to the wise; there is nothing illegal about the landlord changing the locks as long as he provides you with a key. He can retain a key at that time if he so chooses.

A landlord does not have a right, under statute, to enter the premises without your permission or a courts order with a few exceptions.

an emergency situation
if the Bureau of Housing Inspection demands entry.

Other than that, unless there is something in the lease, you can prohibit him from entering the premises.

Is there anything in the lease that allows him entry for any particular reason?

is the basement included in your rented space? If not, that becomes a problem since you would have no right to store anything in there. In fact, you would have no right to even enter the basement without the landlords permission. It would be trespassing.

and a second on DC's statement about property left by a former tenant. If it belongs to anybody other than that former tenant, it is the landlord so don't go about stealing his property or using it without permission. You would be liable for any damages caused by your use.

 

[MagnifyMobile]

No. It doesn't.

DC

Before the former tenant left she told me that I could keep anything that she left. Other than that, why would I be responsible for things that are left here by someone else months after they have left? Am I running some kind of a storage facility, because I'm not getting paid any kind of fees on that? So are you really saying that if a tenant leaves property and I take possession of the house, that no matter what I am responsible for their stuff, how long am I responsible? Forever? So the stuff I threw away am I now responsible for that stuff, how does this end up becoming the property of the landlord, would he need to provide evidence that he owns it? Receipts or anything? Why not just claim that everything in the house belongs to him, even things that I have recently purchased like my big screen television, or my furniture? And the basement is part of my rented property, I am renting the entire property, the whole house basement included. There is nothing in my lease that suggests that I am to provide storage of any kind to anyone else, and there is nothing about me having to give a key to anyone either. Regardless a key would be worthless to him, he would still need to ask my permission and I would need to be home to disarm the alarm system. If a pipe breaks in the basement he will have no way of knowing, so bad argument on his part. How can he change the locks if he cannot even open the door in the first place? Can you change a lock without opening a door. As far as the security deposit it HAS been applied to the rent, he did not lawfully deposit the security deposit. His partner even contacted me and said when they contacted a lawyer to file for eviction and the attorney saw the letter, he advised them that they were walking into a losing situation. My security deposit is spent, and as of right now my rent payments are all paid. Now the landlord has tried to open up a fraudulent car loan using my roommates personal information, this is how desperate and reckless this man is. He will be dealing with the police after a complaint is filed.

 

[justalayman]

Yes, a lock can be changed even if one does not have a key. If nothing else, a locksmith can pick the lock. There are other less gentle means as well.

I will say this: if you were my tenant and expressed the attitude to me
You express here, I would find a way to evict you. I will assure you it would be completely legal as well.

Re: property left by the former tenant. It becomes the landlords as the ll is liable to
The former tenant for a period of time after they depart.

I noticed you quickly changed your story from the prior tenant left property there and you were miffed about having to store it to now the former tenant gave you the property. Basically if it was left in the premises, the onus is on you to prove the former tenant gave it to you.

The landlord never has to prove he purchased it because, well, nobody ever said or claimed he did purchase it. He owns it because it was abandoned on HIS property. That makes him liable for it for a period of time as the law directs. Once that time passes, it becomes his to do with it what he wants.

 

[MagnifyMobile]

Yes, a lock can be changed even if one does not have a key. If nothing else, a locksmith can pick the lock. There are other less gentle means as well.

I will say this: if you were my tenant and expressed the attitude to me
You express here, I would find a way to evict you. I will assure you it would be completely legal as well.

Re: property left by the former tenant. It becomes the landlords as the ll is liable to
The former tenant for a period of time after they depart.

I noticed you quickly changed your story from the prior tenant left property there and you were miffed about having to store it to now the former tenant gave you the property. Basically if it was left in the premises, the onus is on you to prove the former tenant gave it to you.

The landlord never has to prove he purchased it because, well, nobody ever said or claimed he did purchase it. He owns it because it was abandoned on HIS property. That makes him liable for it for a period of time as the law directs. Once that time passes, it becomes his to do with it what he wants.

I'm really not too worried about it at this point, he has already been waved off by a lawyer and I don't see an attorney doing that unless he knew they didn't have a leg to stand on. Rent is paid up to date, I am not in violation of my lease at all. When the previous tenant moved out she for one asked me if I wanted to keep her couches and I said sure, she then said that anything else that has been left behind I am free to keep as well. Most of it has been thrown out with the exception of a few things in the basement.

If the landlord has someone pick the locks then I guess they can deal with the police when the monitoring center dispatches them. I am no lawyer but I do know a few things about NJ and one thing I know is a landlord cannot just enter your property without your permission. Doing so for him would be very risky legally and not to mention the fact that I am a gun owner and have no problem responding with lethal force against any intruder that enters my home. It sounds like you yourself are a landlord and do not really like tenants who stand their ground and fight for their rights. But what can I say, I have certain rights and I will stand by them to the fullest.

Everything else aside I am really not worried at this point. If I were the landlord I would be very worried about the fraudulent loan he attempted to take out in my roommate's name. This landlord has done everything from shut off my water, block my driveway, make threats and now has taken my roommates identity and applied for a loan. He is a criminal plain and simple. If you yourself are a landlord I hope that you do not carry yourself in such a way. I have been told that NJ landlord tenant courts eat landlords like him for breakfast.

 

[justalayman]

Remember, you came here because of his actions.