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Actually in New Jersey you can use your security deposit as rent.
Also, if the landlord does not send proper notice notifying you that your security deposit is being held in savings in a NJ bank you are entitled to interest on the security deposit at 7% per annum.
some excerpts:
Your right to use the security deposit as rent
The law also says that if the landlord does not put the security money in a proper bank account, or does not give a proper written notice to the tenant every time the law says he or she has to, then the tenant can give a written notice to the landlord telling the landlord to use the whole deposit (plus seven percent interest per year) to pay the tenant’s rent. (But be sure to read the next paragraph, which talks about a special situation.) This notice should be sent to the landlord by certified mail, return receipt requested, and you should keep a copy. The money can be used to pay future rent or any back rent the tenant owes. Once a tenant legally tells the landlord to use the security deposit as rent, the landlord can’t ask the tenant for another deposit as long as the tenant lives in the apartment or house. Cite: N.J.S.A. 46:8-19(c); Delmat v. Kahn, 147 N.J. Super. 293 (App. Div. 1977). http://www.lsnjlaw.org/english/place...dex.cfm#3right
Those two links are great resources all things about NJ renting. Unfortunately over the past week I've learned too much about it.
Also, if your deposit isn't returned w/i 30 days with documentation as to what any amounts were deducted for, you can sue for 2x the amount.
We sent them a letter clearly stating what needs to be cleaned and in our contracts we have a minimum cleaning fee IF they don't let it clean as on move in...
We do a move out inspection a few weeks earlier so we have an idea what the property looks like and we tell them what they need to do to get their security deposit back. Some tenants refuse the inspection by over and over stating they don't have time...these are the tenants who never get their money back since they mostly let us haul of the trash and what they don't need, etc...
We love to give the security deposit back since that means less work for us to do. It is not that we are getting rich of secuirty deposits...
Even the cheapest "not fully documented" house cleaners routinely cost several hundred dollars a piece per 8-hrs and that is without specialized equipment / supplies for carpet and gross bathrooms.
If the place is SPOTLESS on move-out that means I can get tenants in sooner which means that I too was THRILLED on the rare occasions that tenants left the place as good as supplied to them.
The worst is tenants that leave all kinds of "stuff" behind. If I get a dumpster the neighbors assume the place is thisclose to becoming a crack house. If I hire movers then I have to store the junk. Last thing I want to do is file suit against some one for something that might not cover filing costs, but the alternative is get walked all over...
Unless directed by a court, a landlord cannot use the security deposit as the last month's rent. The law in NJ is clear about that. The landlord must keep the security deposit in a Trust account and any interest is to be distributed in a timely fashion to the renter.
i leave in NJ and our LL company is a disaster. they fix things only weeks, sometimes months after we notify them. They rase the rent every year for 3 years without letting us know. But if the rent is 1 or 2 days late, the will send you eviction notice…
Am i right not to trust them and use the security deposit for the last month rent?
i leave in NJ and our LL company is a disaster. they fix things only weeks, sometimes months after we notify them. They rase the rent every year for 3 years without letting us know. But if the rent is 1 or 2 days late, the will send you eviction notice…
Am i right not to trust them and use the security deposit for the last month rent?
Read this thread. Security deposit cannot be used as rent.
i leave in NJ and our LL company is a disaster. they fix things only weeks, sometimes months after we notify them. They rase the rent every year for 3 years without letting us know. But if the rent is 1 or 2 days late, the will send you eviction notice…
Am i right not to trust them and use the security deposit for the last month rent?
Sorry, no. You cannot just decide to used the SD as rent. There are certain circumstances when it can but that is up to the court not you. Sorry.
You wait until the SD is returned to you or you get a letter listing all the repairs that they had to make. If you don't get your money or the letter in the amount of time specified by NJ law then you can file with small claims court.
But until then you just have to trust them and make sure you leave your rental in the best condition possible.
I was a commercial/investment broker for many years. We handled lots of rental homes (nice middle class homes).
In our lease we stated if the unit was in good condition and clean including carpet, at walk through when the tenants turned in the keys, we returned their deposit at that time. We would have the check on the clip board. If I pointed out something that needed done, they would ask me to check again later and got it ready to get the immediate deposit return.
We found that nearly all the homes were ready to re-rent and saved having a crew do them. Saved a lot of money and time for us, and made the tenants very happy. They would clean up the units very happily and get an immediate refund, rather and wait 30 days, and wonder how much they would get back. I was president of a county wide rental owners and managers association, and taught the members this way of doing, and many put it to use. We all found it was the best way to get the units ready for the next tenant.
The deposit is not something that a tenant can just say keep the deposit for the rent this month. If they have not paid by the third, they got an immediate move notice, and we enforced it. Let the tenant use the rent for the last month, and they will leave it in a mess every time and cost a lot to get ready for the next tenant. That is why the landlords do not allow it.
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Yep, CLEANING is time consuming AND costly...
