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If you leave the apt and girlfriend stays, she can be evicted and it doesn't take that long. If the LL agrees to her occupancy, she must pay rent or she can be evicted for non-payment in as little as 2 months.
"It's the landlords problem because it is illegal. In NJ, anything paid in the way of deposits, beyond the first months rent, cannot exceed 1.5 months rent. NJ case law says that regardless of how the lease or contract "terms" the payments, they are all considered "security deposits" and cannot exceed the 1.5 months rent maximum allowed under law. Per the law, deposits for pets, pre-payment of rent, security deposits, etc. all get lumped and cannot equal more than 1.5 months."
Question NJGoat, Right now many tenants have "issues" either foreclosure, bad credit or something that makes them less then the ideal tenant. What I don't understand is if the prospective tenant wants to "sweeten" the deal for the landlord and prove potential worthiness by taking prepaid rents why is that a mistake on the landlords part. My gut asks me if someone has bad credit or let their home get taken in foreclosure, a process that could take years of non payment , why will they give a rats butt about my house or credit? Are you saying there is nothing a landlord can do to both help the prospective tenant and property owner other then not renting to people with bad credit?
Question NJGoat, Right now many tenants have "issues" either foreclosure, bad credit or something that makes them less then the ideal tenant. What I don't understand is if the prospective tenant wants to "sweeten" the deal for the landlord and prove potential worthiness by taking prepaid rents why is that a mistake on the landlords part. My gut asks me if someone has bad credit or let their home get taken in foreclosure, a process that could take years of non payment , why will they give a rats butt about my house or credit? Are you saying there is nothing a landlord can do to both help the prospective tenant and property owner other then not renting to people with bad credit?
Page 9 covers security deposits and is clear on the case law and precedent:
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The security deposit cannot be more than one and one-half times one month’s rent. It can be less. Any additional yearly security deposit increase may not exceed 10% of the current security deposit. A landlord may not charge a pet security deposit if it exceeds one and one-half times one month’s rent when combined with the regular security deposit. In the case of Brownstone Arms v. Asher, and Reilly v. Weiss, the courts determined that advanced rents in excess of one and one-half times the monthly rental payment violates the security deposit law. Therefore, any prepaid funds held to secure future rents are considered to be a part of the security deposit. This includes the last month’s rent. It does not matter what the prepaid funds are labeled. The landlord may only require one and one-half times the tenant’s monthly rent as security and the first month’s rent at the inception of the lease. That means the landlord may not require more than two and one-half times the monthly rent at the inception of the lease, this includes the security deposit and the first month’s rent.
Obviously the question is in a grey area. Certainly a landlord cannot "require" a tenant to pay more than 1.5 months of deposits. I would interpret that to mean that rental of the unit cannot be conditional on paying more in prepaid/secured rents. Even in a case where such an agreement were reached and the money paid, the landlord would have no right to withold that money under any circumstance. If a dispute were to arise (like in the OP) a court would find the landlord wrong for accepting the pre-paid amounts in excess of what is allowed.
A popular landlord trick in NJ is to make the tenant pay the realtor's fee in addition to the security. Before I became a homeowner in NJ, I would not rent from a landlord who required this. In the one case where i used my own realtor we split it. I never encountered that in the other states I've lived in.
A popular landlord trick in NJ is to make the tenant pay the realtor's fee in addition to the security. Before I became a homeowner in NJ, I would not rent from a landlord who required this. In the one case where i used my own realtor we split it. I never encountered that in the other states I've lived in.
This is not a trick by any means. The only time the tenant is required to pay the commission is when we can get it from the tenant. (That means there is sufficient demand for that home or apartment that would allow the property to rent out within reasonable time and still collect a commission from the tenant). If you are within the 50 mile radius of NYC, there is usually sufficient demand. When you are in a town that is not as desirable, the landlord may offer to pay the commission in order to get the property rented.
Not a lawyer, but I know a few landlords...a security deposit *is not* known as "prepaid rent". It's a deposit against damage in the apartment (though it can be applied as rent under certain circumstances, usually when the landlord screws up somehow).
If the guy wants to pay 3 months in advance for his rent, that's something he can do. If he gets evicted, he's entitled to the pro-rated amount that is left over from the past months. Honestly the judge is going to tell both parties to work on this outside the court, because evicting someone over a dog (who assumptively hasn't done any damage) is pretty ticky-tack. The landlord can ask for more money in the security deposit to compensate for the dog, which is pretty fair. The less time people spend in court over these things, usually the better.
Landlord can collect 3 month's rent if the rent is payable in 3 month intervals only.
I'll have to take your word for that as I have never seen a case or residential lease covering that topic. I suppose if you set the interval at "3 months" then the payment is pegged to the interval. However, the case law all specifically reference "monthly" not "interval". Do you have any sources/references. Again, just curious because I have never seen it.
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Originally Posted by diegobomber25
Not a lawyer, but I know a few landlords...a security deposit *is not* known as "prepaid rent". It's a deposit against damage in the apartment (though it can be applied as rent under certain circumstances, usually when the landlord screws up somehow).
While you are semantically correct, according to the court in NJ, anything collected at lease inception is considered part of the "security deposit" and cannot exceed 1.5 months total between security, fees, prepaid rent, etc. I posted the case law in a previous post.
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If the guy wants to pay 3 months in advance for his rent, that's something he can do. If he gets evicted, he's entitled to the pro-rated amount that is left over from the past months.
He technically can and as long as the payments weren't "required" by the landlord, then there is nothing wrong with them. However, the landlord couldn't withold anything left is the tenant was evicted as you pointed out.
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Honestly the judge is going to tell both parties to work on this outside the court, because evicting someone over a dog (who assumptively hasn't done any damage) is pretty ticky-tack. The landlord can ask for more money in the security deposit to compensate for the dog, which is pretty fair. The less time people spend in court over these things, usually the better.
The whole situation was screwey on the part of both parties. The landlord is sort of getting what they deserve IMO, as the tenant obviously was not qualified to rent the unit. The tenant is living up to their reputation and trying to get a away with something and being sketchy. The situation can definitely be worked out, but they're both wrong.
[quote=NJGOAT;30383183]I'll have to take your word for that as I have never seen a case or residential lease covering that topic. I suppose if you set the interval at "3 months" then the payment is pegged to the interval. However, the case law all specifically reference "monthly" not "interval". Do you have any sources/references. Again, just curious because I have never seen it.
This is only what I have been seeing lately. The tenants are willing to pay up front, and the landlords are willing to accept it. Although it is not legal, the agents are twisting it to make it work.
The only real issue I can foresee, is, that if the place is destroyed, the Landlord may not be willing to prorate the rent for that timeframe.
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