Landlord refusing certified mail

[MagnifyMobile]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ

I have been having trouble with a really bad landlord. So far he has shut off my water, blocked my driveway, made threats, etc. When something needs to be fixed he literally takes months to get around to it, but when it comes to rent time he wants it literally on the very 1st day, and he says he doesn't care that NJ has a 5 day business day grace period. So anyhow here is my issue. I recently found out that he did not ever deposit my security deposit, actually he basically admitted to me that he spent it! He thinks that when you rent a property that you can do whatever you want with the security deposit, and when someone moves out he simply saves up the money to give back to them. So I did research and found out that in NJ I can send him a certified letter explaining that I want the security deposit applied as a rent payment because he failed to deposit the funds and spent my money. It's called "The Rent Security Deposit Act". I mailed two notices to him demanding the money be used for rent, and also warning him against him making threats and taking other self help eviction actions against me by shutting off my water, blocking my driveway, padlocking my door and threatening to have me and my roommates vehicles towed from our driveway.

One notice was sent by regular mail and the second was sent by certified mail with a return receipt requested. I have been tracking it online and USPS says: "Notice Left (No Authorized Recipient Available)" for the past few days. I know how this man is, he has this belief that he somehow makes up his own rules. The letter was delivered to a business that he owns, and I don't see any reason why it was not signed for. I have a pretty good feeling that he is not going to pick the letter up from the postal service, and it is my understanding that after a couple of attempts USPS will deem the letter "refused" and will return it to me. I am pretty sure he got the letter by regular mail because he sent me the following text message:

You want things done by the law ? No problem we will go by the law ! TO START,,You will pay me for smashing my shed with your truck, i have pictures, before and after, and with your bumper smashed half way through it , $450 to replace it, or we will file suit in small claims court , i dont know what your talking about damage on your car, it never happened here on my property or by me, but i have the proof i need against you ! My lawyers have been briefed on the case and starting an eviction process NOW ! I have Your security deposit account with proof in the LEGAL place it should be, and documention from my bank you refused to sign 9w forms as required by law, your lease will NEVER BE RENEWED ! I WILL LET THE COURTS DEAL WITH YOU UNTIL YOU ARE EVICTED ! AND I WILL DO MY BEST TO GET EVERY PENNY YOU OWE INCLUDING LEGAL FEES ! YOU MAY WIN IN THE BEGINING , BUT I WIN AT THE END ! I HAVE ALL THE TIME AND MONEY I NEED TO GET YOU OUT ! AND BELIEVE ME I WILL WITH JUDGEMENTS ! see you in court !

First of all, not that this is really relevant to this. The shed that he is speaking of was already smashed in from the previous tenants, so I am not really worried about that. My roommate's car was damaged by his employees working on the fence, the fence fell over and landed on the hood of his car, he promised to have his car fixed and recently has changed his mind. I never refused to sign any W9 forms and I have never in my life had any landlord ask me to fill these out. Any other landlord has always provided me with a notice of security deposit within 30 days with no issue. Besides, he was required to deposit the money within 30 days and this is months later, his window of opportunity has passed.

If I get a refusal back from the certified letter, does this mean that under the law he has not been given proper notice about my security deposit? He has made it clear to me that he is in the process of filing an eviction lawsuit. I want to be sure that when I show up to court I can satisfy the court in knowing that my security has been applied to rent and therefore I am not behind on my payments. All other rent payments are paid on time to this point and I have not violated my lease even in the slightest way.

I'm sure many people would recommend me just moving but at this point that is not an option, and if I were to do that I could face legal penalties since doing so I would be breaking my lease agreement.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ

I have been having trouble with a really bad landlord. So far he has shut off my water, blocked my driveway, made threats, etc. When something needs to be fixed he literally takes months to get around to it, but when it comes to rent time he wants it literally on the very 1st day, and he says he doesn't care that NJ has a 5 day business day grace period. So anyhow here is my issue. I recently found out that he did not ever deposit my security deposit, actually he basically admitted to me that he spent it! He thinks that when you rent a property that you can do whatever you want with the security deposit, and when someone moves out he simply saves up the money to give back to them. So I did research and found out that in NJ I can send him a certified letter explaining that I want the security deposit applied as a rent payment because he failed to deposit the funds and spent my money. It's called "The Rent Security Deposit Act". I mailed two notices to him demanding the money be used for rent, and also warning him against him making threats and taking other self help eviction actions against me by shutting off my water, blocking my driveway, padlocking my door and threatening to have me and my roommates vehicles towed from our driveway.

One notice was sent by regular mail and the second was sent by certified mail with a return receipt requested. I have been tracking it online and USPS says: "Notice Left (No Authorized Recipient Available)" for the past few days. I know how this man is, he has this belief that he somehow makes up his own rules. The letter was delivered to a business that he owns, and I don't see any reason why it was not signed for. I have a pretty good feeling that he is not going to pick the letter up from the postal service, and it is my understanding that after a couple of attempts USPS will deem the letter "refused" and will return it to me. I am pretty sure he got the letter by regular mail because he sent me the following text message:

You want things done by the law ? No problem we will go by the law ! TO START,,You will pay me for smashing my shed with your truck, i have pictures, before and after, and with your bumper smashed half way through it , $450 to replace it, or we will file suit in small claims court , i dont know what your talking about damage on your car, it never happened here on my property or by me, but i have the proof i need against you ! My lawyers have been briefed on the case and starting an eviction process NOW ! I have Your security deposit account with proof in the LEGAL place it should be, and documention from my bank you refused to sign 9w forms as required by law, your lease will NEVER BE RENEWED ! I WILL LET THE COURTS DEAL WITH YOU UNTIL YOU ARE EVICTED ! AND I WILL DO MY BEST TO GET EVERY PENNY YOU OWE INCLUDING LEGAL FEES ! YOU MAY WIN IN THE BEGINING , BUT I WIN AT THE END ! I HAVE ALL THE TIME AND MONEY I NEED TO GET YOU OUT ! AND BELIEVE ME I WILL WITH JUDGEMENTS ! see you in court !

First of all, not that this is really relevant to this. The shed that he is speaking of was already smashed in from the previous tenants, so I am not really worried about that. My roommate's car was damaged by his employees working on the fence, the fence fell over and landed on the hood of his car, he promised to have his car fixed and recently has changed his mind. I never refused to sign any W9 forms and I have never in my life had any landlord ask me to fill these out. Any other landlord has always provided me with a notice of security deposit within 30 days with no issue. Besides, he was required to deposit the money within 30 days and this is months later, his window of opportunity has passed.

If I get a refusal back from the certified letter, does this mean that under the law he has not been given proper notice about my security deposit? He has made it clear to me that he is in the process of filing an eviction lawsuit. I want to be sure that when I show up to court I can satisfy the court in knowing that my security has been applied to rent and therefore I am not behind on my payments. All other rent payments are paid on time to this point and I have not violated my lease even in the slightest way.

I'm sure many people would recommend me just moving but at this point that is not an option, and if I were to do that I could face legal penalties since doing so I would be breaking my lease agreement.

I am only going to comment on the W-9 form as there are others better versed in real estate law. A W-9 is something that a contractor fills out in order to provide his/her taxpayer ID number to someone who will be paying them. There is absolutely no reason why a tenant would ever need to sign a W-9 form for a landlord...and no reason why the tenant ever should.

 

[FarmerJ]

If your LL refuses to sign for / pick up the mail you sent to him it will be returned to you , do not open up that envelope leave it sealed and in tact, it should be stamped by the post office to show that the person you sent it to has refused to pick up, not picked up , something to show they attempted to deliver, In the end if there is a court hearing where the court is settling a dispute you will want to bring with you to court your copy & postal rct and the intact refused letter so the court can see that you have a paper trail. LAST you said >>he says he doesn't care that NJ has a 5 day business day grace period<< Im wondering if you are mistaking a 5 day demand notice that a LL might have to send out before actually filing for a eviction hearing VS a mandated time frame to pay rent with out it being late. (wondering if your lease grants you 5 days to pay with out it being late or not ?) Have you a NJ statute number for that ,that says your state lets a tenant pay rent up to 5 days into a month with no penalty to a tenant ? If you cant find one that says that then your lease itself is what you are to rely on (not a landlord tenant myth) if the lease does not grant you 5 days to pay with out a penalty then your rent is due on the first.

 

[MagnifyMobile]

If your LL refuses to sign for / pick up the mail you sent to him it will be returned to you , do not open up that envelope leave it sealed and in tact, it should be stamped by the post office to show that the person you sent it to has refused to pick up, not picked up , something to show they attempted to deliver, In the end if there is a court hearing where the court is settling a dispute you will want to bring with you to court your copy & postal rct and the intact refused letter so the court can see that you have a paper trail. LAST you said >>he says he doesn't care that NJ has a 5 day business day grace period<< Im wondering if you are mistaking a 5 day demand notice that a LL might have to send out before actually filing for a eviction hearing VS a mandated time frame to pay rent with out it being late. (wondering if your lease grants you 5 days to pay with out it being late or not ?) Have you a NJ statute number for that ,that says your state lets a tenant pay rent up to 5 days into a month with no penalty to a tenant ? If you cant find one that says that then your lease itself is what you are to rely on (not a landlord tenant myth) if the lease does not grant you 5 days to pay with out a penalty then your rent is due on the first.

Sounds fairly solid on the letter, I will definitely not open it and will follow your advice. As far as the 5 say grace period, I don't remember the statute off hand but I have looked into it and I know that it is a fact that in NJ all residential leases have a five business day grace period, meaning if you pay on the 3rd, 4th or even 5th you are considered on time. As far as the lease it doesn't even speak of a late fee or anything, but my point about him was he demands all things on his terms and in his own words he said "I could give a f**k what NJ law says, my property means my law".

 

[FarmerJ]

You should have a bank box where you can store copies of all valuable documents inc any letters you send to the LL ( your LL may not care what your states laws are but you should from now on create paper trails to back your self up No texting him no phone calls use paper letters , repairs paper letters and complain more than once. You didnt say how many months are left on your lease but I would suggest you plan for not renewing and finding a new place because if what you say is true about the LL even if you won in court any disputes you have with him that its likely you will never collect any thing from him. ( you should just plan on giving proper written notice that meets what your lease says when the time comes and then take lots of pictures of how nice and clean you leave the place and also pics of things that the LL has not fixed so you have another paper trail for a eventual court hearing.

 

[MagnifyMobile]

You should have a bank box where you can store copies of all valuable documents inc any letters you send to the LL ( your LL may not care what your states laws are but you should from now on create paper trails to back your self up No texting him no phone calls use paper letters , repairs paper letters and complain more than once. You didnt say how many months are left on your lease but I would suggest you plan for not renewing and finding a new place because if what you say is true about the LL even if you won in court any disputes you have with him that its likely you will never collect any thing from him. ( you should just plan on giving proper written notice that meets what your lease says when the time comes and then take lots of pictures of how nice and clean you leave the place and also pics of things that the LL has not fixed so you have another paper trail for a eventual court hearing.

Right with you man. I do everything in writing, although he is a bigger fan of texts. All paperwork including every receipt and letter are sitting in a 150lb fireproof safe in my office. My lease ends in December so I have some time. Unfortunately he turned out to be a bad landlord from the very start. When I moved in I had no top drawer in my kitchen because the old tenants had damaged it. I just got the fixed thing back about two weeks ago after hounding him about it. He himself is not about paperwork at all, actually he tried to get me to go without a lease and I was like no way sir, no lease no deal. Then he even tried later on to say that I have a cat against his wishes even know it says in my lease specifically that I am allowed to have a cat. This guy makes stuff up as he goes along, and for that very reason I demanded a lease. No lease means the landlord changes the rules and terms whenever he wishes, leaving me with no recourse. I kind of hope he takes me to court, I would love to see the judge's reaction when I tell him that he actually shut off my water to get back at me. I believe that is actually a criminal offense in NJ.

 

[FarmerJ]

next time the water is shut off and you do not have access to the main valve call building inspections out , let them condemn it( threaten to condemn , if thats what they gotta do to get his attention , beside that your copy of the so called inspections report would just fatten up your paper trail.

 

[MagnifyMobile]

next time the water is shut off and you do not have access to the main valve call building inspections out , let them condemn it( threaten to condemn , if thats what they gotta do to get his attention , beside that your copy of the so called inspections report would just fatten up your paper trail.

It didn't happen until after hours. I even tried the water department but was told that they only come out for major things like water main breaks. It wasn't cold enough to be a freeze in the line. I called the landlord's partner and told him "your partner shut our water off, I am going to call the police and press criminal charges against him". The partner freaked out and begged me not to call, he said "I'm sure he didn't shut it off, I will be out there tomorrow to have a look at it". I insisted he come out asap. At the same time he told me to try the hose outside of the landlords business and it worked. So I told him that now it seems even more credible that my water was shut off, because if there was a problem with the township, the hose would not have worked. And in the past we have had major freezes that would stop the water, but it would always stop my water and his as well. He insisted that his partner didn't shut it off so I asked "then what happened, we know it didn't freeze, so what else would cause my water to not work all of a sudden?", he had no answer for that. He came out first thing the next morning and as soon as he walking into the garage it went right back on. So we documented everything we observed. I have a feeling he won't do it again since he has gotten this letter advising him that it is a crime in NJ to shut off someone's water. These landlords do not realize that in NJ, you cannot do anything at all to try and get a tenant to move out, nor can you do anything except send standard notices to deal with rent issues. Doing so is a self help eviction. Looking back now I probably should have called the police and let them lock him up, how's that for a paper trail? But the partner is a really nice guy and is very good at cooling things down. In my opinion it would be in his best interests to allow his partner to handle every single aspect of the rental and keep himself out of it. This guy is basically a bull in a China shop. He continues to taunt me by text messages telling me how he is so close to getting me evicted, even though I have told him to stop communicating with me. I'm very close to filing harassment charges if it doesn't stop.

 

[Ohiogal]

Sounds fairly solid on the letter, I will definitely not open it and will follow your advice. As far as the 5 say grace period, I don't remember the statute off hand but I have looked into it and I know that it is a fact that in NJ all residential leases have a five business day grace period, meaning if you pay on the 3rd, 4th or even 5th you are considered on time. As far as the lease it doesn't even speak of a late fee or anything, but my point about him was he demands all things on his terms and in his own words he said "I could give a f**k what NJ law says, my property means my law".

WRONG. All residential leases do NOT have a five business day grace period. WRONG.

The law in New Jersey is as follows:

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.

So are you a senior citizen receiving Social Security or other governmental pension or a Railroad Retirement pension?
Are you a recipient of Social Security Disability or SSI or receiving benefits under Work First New Jersey?

Those are the times when a five day grace period comes into play based on the law.

 

[MagnifyMobile]

WRONG. All residential leases do NOT have a five business day grace period. WRONG.

The law in New Jersey is as follows:


So are you a senior citizen receiving Social Security or other governmental pension or a Railroad Retirement pension?
Are you a recipient of Social Security Disability or SSI or receiving benefits under Work First New Jersey?

Those are the times when a five day grace period comes into play based on the law.

I stand corrected, that law does not apply to me. However, the lease that we signed does not institute a late fee at all, the only thing it mentions about late rent/not paying rent is as follows:

If the Tenant fails to pay the rent on time or violates any other terms of this Lease, the Landlord will provide written notice of the violation or default. If the violation or default is not corrected, the Landlord will have the right to terminate this lease in accordance with state law. The Landlord will also have the right to re-enter the residence and take possession of it and to take advantage of any other legal remedies available including under all applicable provisions of the Laws of the State of NJ.

As of today, I have not received a single written notice of anything from the landlord. Him sending me written notices would mean he would be following the law, and he doesn't do that. He has declared several times that he has "his own law", he has his own way of dealing with these things. Many of the ways he said he will deal with me include blocking my driveway, shutting off water (which he has already done), or towing my vehicles from my property. He has also threatened to install a fence with a small walk in gate across my driveway so that we cannot park here anymore.

 

[MagnifyMobile]

Well here's an update on the ignorance of this landlord. I just tracked the letter through the USPS website and it said the recipient refused the letter and that it is being returned to the sender. So I suppose that the landlord has the belief that as long as he does not accept the letter, he can go to court and claim that he was never aware that I had applied the security deposit toward the rent. So when I receive it back I will be sure to not open it and will lock it in my safe. Based on his text messages, it seems he is going to try to file an eviction complaint against me anyway. I really hope that the judge will accept the refusal along with the unopened letter as proper notice. I did everything I could as far as the law in concerned.

 

[Ohiogal]

Well here's an update on the ignorance of this landlord. I just tracked the letter through the USPS website and it said the recipient refused the letter and that it is being returned to the sender. So I suppose that the landlord has the belief that as long as he does not accept the letter, he can go to court and claim that he was never aware that I had applied the security deposit toward the rent. So when I receive it back I will be sure to not open it and will lock it in my safe. Based on his text messages, it seems he is going to try to file an eviction complaint against me anyway. I really hope that the judge will accept the refusal along with the unopened letter as proper notice. I did everything I could as far as the law in concerned.

Are you looking for a new place to live?

 

[MagnifyMobile]

Are you looking for a new place to live?

No I am not. My lease does not end until December and moving right now is not an option for me. I have way too many things on my plate with an overwhelming amount of work I have to do from my company.

 

[FarmerJ]

LL may not want to accept certified mail but any claim of never having notice or mail from you goes right down the toilet in a court when you bring to court the refused mail, Judges typically wont allow a LL to make that kind of claim when they can see right there the tenants paper trail.

 

[MagnifyMobile]

LL may not want to accept certified mail but any claim of never having notice or mail from you goes right down the toilet in a court when you bring to court the refused mail, Judges typically wont allow a LL to make that kind of claim when they can see right there the tenants paper trail.

I was notified by the landlord's partner that they have accepted the fact that the security deposit has been applied and will not seek further action. Guess they contacted an attorney and were advised that they would most likely lose an eviction case.

So now the landlord is trying a new thing. He said he hired a rubbish removal company to clean up the property and that he wants me to leave my basement unlocked so they can get down there. I told him that I have stuff down there and am declining to have any property removed. He is insisting on me giving access. I then told him that it has already been taken care of, that I have already removed everything from the basement I didn't want. He sent a text in all capital letters telling me "YOU ARE NOT TO REMOVE ANYTHING FROM THAT BASEMENT WITHOUT MY AUTHORIZATION!". I think he is under the false impression that he owns anything down there. I am the one renting the property and my impression is that I am the one who owns what is in here, except for things like the heater, water heater, etc. Oh and my lease does not in any way state that I have to give him access, and it does not say that I have to give him a key to my basement either. Besides, him having a key makes no real sense, because he can't enter the basement without going through me. I have an alarm system in the home and the basement is wired. If he ever wants to get down there he would have no choice but for me to physically be there and let him in. He even said "what if a pipe breaks in the basement, how would I get in there in an emergency". My question back to him was "if a pipe broke in MY basement, how in the world would you even know that in the first place, being that you have no way of seeing anything in the basement in the first place?" Of course he jammed up and had no answer to that. I don't trust this guy and it seems like he is desperate to get into my basement for some reason. What is the fixation? Just let me rent the place and let me be. I'm not running a storage facility where he can just come and pick up stuff when he pleases. Anything that the former tenant left now belongs to me.