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Eviction is a legal process and has nothing to do with the current situation where the tenant has a valid term lease and is not in default of any of its terms.
While eviction must go through the court as I indicated in an earlier post, my reading of this does not say anything about an eviction proceeding only after a lease ends.
Indeed, if a sales contract can be written that a unit must be made vacant at closing, that would indicate that the lease can be terminated far before its actual term. This is one the special exceptions to NJ law on three unit or less buildings.
The new owner, in the case of the OP, has to apply to the court to use this provision of the law to get the tenants out, but he is well within his legal rights to try to terminate their lease so he can self occupy.
^^^ And it's solely my opinion that the law which protects tenants who have a term lease (as opposed to a month to month) may override this provision. As said before, the OP should seek competent legal advice.
I am going to approach the tenants with this information and see if I can work out a deal with them. If not I will seek legal advice. I think willow wind has provided several different articles that echo what I mentioned in my earlier posts. Basically, I think I have a right to give proper notice and ask that the tenants vacate my property upon closing.
I don't think most situations are horror stories. I think if I tell people my situation and offer them valid time and compensation more often than not they'll be willing to comply. Kill em with kindness IMO.
New Jersey landlord law is really quirky, so advice you get from people who are not landlords in New Jersey might not be valid.
I know that a buyer moving in in New Jersey is grounds to not renew a lease. Landlords don't get to simply not renew. They must have legal grounds to not renew in New Jersey, and legal grounds are limited.
I suspect that buyer moving in is not grounds to terminate a lease early, but you will have to consult with a lawyer, OP. Be careful to follow the law exactly. New Jersey courts are not favorable to landlords and they are not forgiving about mistakes made by a landlord..
If the law does not allow you to terminate early, you might try offering cash for keys. If a tenant knows they will be moving soon, no matter what, they will sometimes accept money to do it early. That way they get their moving expenses paid for a move they will have to make anyway. It's worth a try.
If you don't care what unit you move into, you might ask if anyone would like to get out of their lease early. Occasionally, a tenant will just be suffering to the end of the lease because they can't afford to break it. It's worth asking.
If I had wanted to occupy one unit, I would have made my offer contingent upon having that unit vacant at close of escrow. Let the seller get the tenant out. Too late for that in this case.
New Jersey landlord law is really quirky, so advice you get from people who are not landlords in New Jersey might not be valid.
If I had wanted to occupy one unit, I would have made my offer contingent upon having that unit vacant at close of escrow. Let the seller get the tenant out. Too late for that in this case.
No it's not. Nothing is signed. I wanted to put it on the seller, he flipped it back on me. I am willing to help financially to get them out (to a point) but I will not close if those tenants are there.
No it's not. Nothing is signed. I wanted to put it on the seller, he flipped it back on me. I am willing to help financially to get them out (to a point) but I will not close if those tenants are there.
I can say fairly unequivocally that the law is clear in this matter: you can evict the tenant upon lease term end but you can NOT require them to vacate prior to that. So if you're hoping to make that a contingency of the purchase, it won't go through as it doesn't meet legal muster. Please refer to NJ's Anti-Eviction Act, specifically this section (bolded part is for emphasis):
"Almost all tenants are covered by the Anti-Eviction Act. However, the law does not apply to tenants residing in buildings or houses with three or fewer apartments where the owner lives in one of the apartments. This is known as the “owner-occupied” exception. Tenants subject to the owner-occupied exception may be evicted at the end of the lease term for any reason. If you are a month-to-month tenant living in a building with three or fewer apartments and your landlord lives in one of those apartments, the landlord needs only to give you a month’s notice to quit before taking you to court. Cite: N.J.S.A. 2A:18-53.
It is important to remember that, even if the Anti-Eviction Act does not apply to you, the landlord or property owner still must take you to court before you can be removed from your home. As explained in The Tenant’s Right to Court Process section, a landlord or property owner cannot remove you without court approval. Self-help removals or lockouts are illegal, even if you are not covered by the Anti-Eviction Act."
So it's pretty clear that you can approach the tenants and ask them to vacate prior to lease end but they do not have to do so, and if you decide to evict, you still have to go through the courts in order to do so.
For sure, consult a qualified attorney, but the law is explicit about this; you still have to respect the lease of the tenant, even upon transfer of sale (now, if they're violating the terms of the lease, that's a whole different ball of wax).
In NJ, the owener of a multi unit dweling of 3 or less units can excercise a right to serve notice on an occupant with a lease that they intend to occupay the unit as their residence. They must give 60 days notice. A tenanat can always exert a claim that the owner is not intending toi occupy or is otherwise using the owner occupancy provision as a smoke screen for an otherwise unlawful eviction. Tenants (especially minorities) have the added benefit of challenging the selection of their notice as a discriminatory action under the mask of an owner attempting to occupied a unit. Since these are very tricky and judges often come to different conclusions based on the same law, qualified legal representation and guidance is almost always a wise decission.
In NJ, the owener of a multi unit dweling of 3 or less units can excercise a right to serve notice on an occupant with a lease that they intend to occupay the unit as their residence. They must give 60 days notice. A tenanat can always exert a claim that the owner is not intending toi occupy or is otherwise using the owner occupancy provision as a smoke screen for an otherwise unlawful eviction. Tenants (especially minorities) have the added benefit of challenging the selection of their notice as a discriminatory action under the mask of an owner attempting to occupied a unit. Since these are very tricky and judges often come to different conclusions based on the same law, qualified legal representation and guidance is almost always a wise decission.
True, while you can serve notice of eviction, that doesn't mean at the end of 60 days the tenant is automatically out. You still have to go through the eviction process: if you live in a small building (three apartments or less), and the owner actually lives in one of the apartments, the landlord does not have to prove one of the causes for eviction under the Anti-Eviction Act. But the landlord must still take you to court to evict you.
The crux of it, however, is that OP doesn't currently live in any of the units but is looking to purchase and then use one of the units for their personal dwelling. This is where the law gets a little more gray and OP should consult a qualified attorney to best advise them as to how to proceed.
No it's not. Nothing is signed. I wanted to put it on the seller, he flipped it back on me. I am willing to help financially to get them out (to a point) but I will not close if those tenants are there.
Do yourself a huge favor and hire a RE Attorney.
You said "college town in NJ" and RU is in your screen name - is this property in New Brunswick?
If it is, I have a few tidbits of advice to share with you before you get in too deep - nothing bad, just about what you should know to ask the seller for so you don't end up spending more $ after the closing than you were prepared to.
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