john1982z28
Member
What is the name of your state? NJ
My father purchased a single family home that he converted to a two family, drew up leases and rented out to two tenants. He for the most part followed the advice of his girlfriend, instead of hiring an attorney like I kept suggesting. Now it seems that it has caught up to him in a very bad way. The first problem, when he divided the house he never had the heater adjusted for the new configuration, so there was consistent complaining from both tenants. One way too hot, the other way too cold. Both tenants have on multiple occasions withheld their rent and sent certified letters demanding the heat be fixed (providing minimum temperatures according to state law) or they would continue rent withholding. The problem is every time things like this would happen, my father would get more and more enraged and would respond with threats of eviction, late fees, etc. But to get his money, he would eventually go down in the basement, do some "tweaking" and collect his rent. On top of this, there were other repair issues that he either refused to fix, or took way too long to fix, which made more certified letters pile up from both tenants. And as always, he would simply respond by getting more angry, and sending more threatening letters. He even sent the tenants a bill for excessive heat usage, despite the fact that heat is included in the lease. I'm sure most lawyers who are reading this are really shaking their heads right now, well we're just getting started.
Finally the breaking point after the tenants were complaining about the heat. A final certified letter stating that rent was being withheld indefinitely, and that the landlord should file an eviction for non payment so they can initiate a habitability hearing. The tenants are now claiming they want to appeal to the court for rent abatement due to their continued inconveniences. Now this is my father and I love the man, but I do not disagree with them. I have on may occasions been in both units, have tested the temperatures with my IR thermometer and have registered temperatures as low as the 50s. I have pleaded with my father to stop thinking of these people as tenants, and instead look at them as customers, and just fix the damn problems!
Well the tenants didn't only send letters, they also reached out to the local health department, which in turn triggered code enforcement. My father received a letter from the township stating that he has 30 days to convert the property back to a single family home, and that a variance will not be approved due to the zone the home is located in. It also says that they reserve the right to refer this to the local municipal court. So it seems that my father is being told that he has to remove his tenants, because the occupancy is illegal. He is going to face a ton of fines. Not one single construction permit or inspection despite all of the major structural changes, no zoning, no variances, not a single official thing.
The tenants have now sent new letters stating that they are aware that eventually they are going to be evicted because of the illegal occupancy, and that they are due 6 times the monthly rent in relocation expenses to be paid in advance 5 days before they are removed. When I first read this I thought, you have to be kidding me, there is no way anything like this even remotely exists.
Then I found this:
https://www.lsnjlaw.org/Housing/Relocation-Assistance/Pages/What-is-Relocation-Assistance-and-How-Can-You-Get-It.aspx
This is the part that I suppose they are referring to:
Tenants living in illegal apartments that violate the town’s zoning laws cannot be evicted unless they receive relocation assistance from the landlord (or the town, if it has a special law) in the amount of six times the monthly rent. This money must be paid to the tenant at least five days before the tenant is evicted. Cite: N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1(g) or 2A:18-61.1(h); Kona Miah v. Ahmed, 179. N.J. 511 (2004).
This is nothing short of frightening. To be honest my father barely has the money to pay for an attorney at this point. And we just found out that because he did this under an LLC, he is not allowed to represent himself. He wants to file eviction for non-payment cases but can't even afford to do that. I know the clock is ticking, and I am sure that eventually the township is going to be able to force his hand.
Is my father going to really have to shell out thousands of dollars to pay these tenants off before they are even evicted? Can he at least keep their security deposits? Or does he have to give them that too? I know this sounds bad but is there a way out of all of this? I don't think the tenants have lawyers, but I have to say that these letters they are sending seem to be well crafted, so I think they know their way around the law.
My father purchased a single family home that he converted to a two family, drew up leases and rented out to two tenants. He for the most part followed the advice of his girlfriend, instead of hiring an attorney like I kept suggesting. Now it seems that it has caught up to him in a very bad way. The first problem, when he divided the house he never had the heater adjusted for the new configuration, so there was consistent complaining from both tenants. One way too hot, the other way too cold. Both tenants have on multiple occasions withheld their rent and sent certified letters demanding the heat be fixed (providing minimum temperatures according to state law) or they would continue rent withholding. The problem is every time things like this would happen, my father would get more and more enraged and would respond with threats of eviction, late fees, etc. But to get his money, he would eventually go down in the basement, do some "tweaking" and collect his rent. On top of this, there were other repair issues that he either refused to fix, or took way too long to fix, which made more certified letters pile up from both tenants. And as always, he would simply respond by getting more angry, and sending more threatening letters. He even sent the tenants a bill for excessive heat usage, despite the fact that heat is included in the lease. I'm sure most lawyers who are reading this are really shaking their heads right now, well we're just getting started.
Finally the breaking point after the tenants were complaining about the heat. A final certified letter stating that rent was being withheld indefinitely, and that the landlord should file an eviction for non payment so they can initiate a habitability hearing. The tenants are now claiming they want to appeal to the court for rent abatement due to their continued inconveniences. Now this is my father and I love the man, but I do not disagree with them. I have on may occasions been in both units, have tested the temperatures with my IR thermometer and have registered temperatures as low as the 50s. I have pleaded with my father to stop thinking of these people as tenants, and instead look at them as customers, and just fix the damn problems!
Well the tenants didn't only send letters, they also reached out to the local health department, which in turn triggered code enforcement. My father received a letter from the township stating that he has 30 days to convert the property back to a single family home, and that a variance will not be approved due to the zone the home is located in. It also says that they reserve the right to refer this to the local municipal court. So it seems that my father is being told that he has to remove his tenants, because the occupancy is illegal. He is going to face a ton of fines. Not one single construction permit or inspection despite all of the major structural changes, no zoning, no variances, not a single official thing.
The tenants have now sent new letters stating that they are aware that eventually they are going to be evicted because of the illegal occupancy, and that they are due 6 times the monthly rent in relocation expenses to be paid in advance 5 days before they are removed. When I first read this I thought, you have to be kidding me, there is no way anything like this even remotely exists.
Then I found this:
https://www.lsnjlaw.org/Housing/Relocation-Assistance/Pages/What-is-Relocation-Assistance-and-How-Can-You-Get-It.aspx
This is the part that I suppose they are referring to:
Tenants living in illegal apartments that violate the town’s zoning laws cannot be evicted unless they receive relocation assistance from the landlord (or the town, if it has a special law) in the amount of six times the monthly rent. This money must be paid to the tenant at least five days before the tenant is evicted. Cite: N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1(g) or 2A:18-61.1(h); Kona Miah v. Ahmed, 179. N.J. 511 (2004).
This is nothing short of frightening. To be honest my father barely has the money to pay for an attorney at this point. And we just found out that because he did this under an LLC, he is not allowed to represent himself. He wants to file eviction for non-payment cases but can't even afford to do that. I know the clock is ticking, and I am sure that eventually the township is going to be able to force his hand.
Is my father going to really have to shell out thousands of dollars to pay these tenants off before they are even evicted? Can he at least keep their security deposits? Or does he have to give them that too? I know this sounds bad but is there a way out of all of this? I don't think the tenants have lawyers, but I have to say that these letters they are sending seem to be well crafted, so I think they know their way around the law.
