NJ - Tenant trying to claim relocation expenses!

[LdiJ]

An option may be to request/beg the city to condemn the place.

Letting the city know that the tenants simply refuse to move out.

 

[xylene]

You father has tried "everything" except cash for keys.

The tenants want 6 months rent. Only in his mind is it that the 6 months rent cancels out their non-existent 'unpaid' rent.

 

[not2cleverRed]

New Jersey’s Anti-Eviction Act. N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1 Et. Seq.

N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1.
g. Health and Safety Violation or Removal from the Rental Market A tenant may be evicted if the following conditions apply:

1. The landlord has been cited by an inspector and needs to board up or demolish the property because of substantial health and safety violations and because it is financially difficult to fix the violations.
2. The landlord needs to fix health and safety violations and it is not possible to do so, while the tenant resides at the property. When the landlord serves the eviction notice he must also notify the Department of Community Affairs, Landlord-Tenant Information Service, P.O. Box 805, Trenton, New Jersey 08635-0805. In addition, upon request, the landlord must provide the Department of Community Affairs with information as required under the law, so that the Department may prepare a report informing all parties and the court of the feasibility of the landlord to fix the violations without removing the tenants from the property.
3. The landlord needs to correct an illegal occupancy and it is not possible to correct this violation without removing the tenant.
4. A governmental agency wants to permanently take the property off the rental market, so that it can redevelop or clear land in a blighted area.

Dad seems to have 3. Maybe 1 or 2 as well.

There's your "cause".

 

[john1982z28]

I never said there wasn't any cause, I said that a lease term on a residential lease is not cause for eviction. This means that a landlord cannot just make everyone leave if their leases are expired just to skirt the law and avoid having to evict based on number 3, which carries the 6 month penalty. I don't see how 1 or 2 would apply at all, it's not a health or safety issue, it's an illegal occupancy issue. That is the exact wording the township code inspector is using, illegal occupancy. You can't even get a variance for it, inspector said don't even bother applying. It's in a part of town where only single family homes are allowed.

 

[Zigner]

Your dad is going to have to accept the consequences. Based on what you've said now, ONLY #3 would apply.

 

[LdiJ]

So, what your father has to do is to file for an eviction for illegal occupancy. Since he unfortunately put the property in an LLC, he will have to hire an attorney to do so. He can include in the eviction complaint the fact that they have not paid any renter for x number of months, but his main focus needs to be the illegal occupancy. He is also going to have to come up with the money that the judge orders him to pay them.

 

[Zigner]

He can include in the eviction complaint the fact that they have not paid any renter for x number of months...

That is not grounds for eviction in this case. The guy has no legal right to collect rent, so he can't (successfully) sue for uncollected rent. I'm sure the attorney will know how to approach this.

 

[LdiJ]

That is not grounds for eviction in this case. The guy has no legal right to collect rent, so he can't (successfully) sue for uncollected rent. I'm sure the attorney will know how to approach this.

I am just encouraging him to get that information in there somehow, so that possibly the judge will cut him a break on how much relocation he has to give the people, since he has not been collecting any rent.

 

[Zigner]

I am just encouraging him to get that information in there somehow, so that possibly the judge will cut him a break on how much relocation he has to give the people, since he has not been collecting any rent.

Why do you think the judge has discretion?

 

[not2cleverRed]

That is not grounds for eviction in this case. The guy has no legal right to collect rent, so he can't (successfully) sue for uncollected rent. I'm sure the attorney will know how to approach this.

The attorney Dad wouldn't hire 3 months ago, and now Dad has even less money. John was told from the start that they'd need 6 months relocation fees. Now the tenants have a couple more months rent free, and they're still entitled to 6 months relocations fees.

Dad's girlfriend really sucks at business advise. I hope Dad's girlfriend is at least really hot, and that the hot steamy was earth shatteringly fantastic, so that he'll have at least one sweet memory of this fiasco.

 

[FarmerJ]

Your dad cannot just tear down a so called common wall while they are living there , he has to follow thru with the court system, going thru the courts based on notice to vacate was given due to housing inspections orders and tenants wont leave . NOT money not one dime to him. If he has to pay more out of pocket to get them out either pay it or don't and live with what ever the city does to him. Condemnation , well where I live when a property is condemned often a city will require full code compliance in order for a residence to be used again. In a way the city has already condemned it if they have told him he has to get the place empty first in order to repair it back to a single family home. Does your dad own it free and clear or is there a mortgage on it still and if there is a mortgage how much is still owed on it?