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I am currently facing a court date in landlord tenant issue in the superior court of New Jesey in the first week of November. Me and my husband recently took a 3 bedroom apartment for rent in a multi family home which is owner occupied, we choose this as we both lost our jobs after 7 yrs and only my husband got a job as a consultant on a 6 month project hence we wanted a 6 month lease for the apartment. This was a owner occupied building and after we moved in there were a lot of problems and the owner was hesitant to get them fixed for example no hot water in one of the bathrooms, bugs in the kitchen etc!! and then finally within 6 weeks of us staying there the owner wanted us to leave as we were bothering them to get the things fixed!!, He was threatening us to leave within 20 days, so after doing some research on the internet about the landlord tenant laws we decided to get some legal advice as we had a 6 month lease in place.
I also found out that the security deposit of one and half months rent can be used as future rent if the owner does not put it in a separate interest bearing account so we gave them a legal notice that we would be moving in 6 weeks and we would like to apply the security deposit as rent. After receiving the letter there were few more incidents when they tried to barge into our apartment and we had to call the cops. after all this we receive a notice from their attorney to attend the superior court of NJ for eviction proceedings, I have a strong nagging belief that they are doing this only to bother us and threaten us as any court judgment against us would be reflected on our credit history. I would like to know how this might effect our credit history?
This does not appear to be a court judgment but it may end up being one if you don't appear in court. I don't think you are supposed to utilize your security as rent unless the landlord agrees that they are willing to accept it as such. Security is supposed to be a safeguard against damages to the property and once you move and if no damages (other than normal wear and tear) are assessed then you would regain your security along with any interest that it has accumulated.
If a judgment is entered against you in the landlord's favor, it can appear on your credit report and, I believe, remain there for seven years. This can be damaging to your credit score in the short term but as time goes by (I am thinking years and not months with this statement) it will be less so but it still has other consequences. Some landlords will not rent to you if they see that another landlord received a judgment against you because it appears as if you were an undesirable tenant.
The best thing to do, IMHO, is to go to court and fight against whatever the landlord has stated you have done (non-payment or some other complaint). Also, if you can prove that the landlord has not placed your security in an interest bearing account and that it can be used towards rent then that should be in your favor. The one thing I am not sure about is if you are at the end of your tenancy (six months) or if you have not honored your lease agreement. If you have not honored your lease agreement, the landlord can sue you for the remaining months on the lease or for time that the apartment remains empty (whichever is less).
I am currently facing a court date in landlord tenant issue in the superior court of New Jesey in the first week of November. Me and my husband recently took a 3 bedroom apartment for rent in a multi family home which is owner occupied, we choose this as we both lost our jobs after 7 yrs and only my husband got a job as a consultant on a 6 month project hence we wanted a 6 month lease for the apartment. This was a owner occupied building and after we moved in there were a lot of problems and the owner was hesitant to get them fixed for example no hot water in one of the bathrooms, bugs in the kitchen etc!! and then finally within 6 weeks of us staying there the owner wanted us to leave as we were bothering them to get the things fixed!!, He was threatening us to leave within 20 days, so after doing some research on the internet about the landlord tenant laws we decided to get some legal advice as we had a 6 month lease in place.
I also found out that the security deposit of one and half months rent can be used as future rent if the owner does not put it in a separate interest bearing account so we gave them a legal notice that we would be moving in 6 weeks and we would like to apply the security deposit as rent. After receiving the letter there were few more incidents when they tried to barge into our apartment and we had to call the cops. after all this we receive a notice from their attorney to attend the superior court of NJ for eviction proceedings, I have a strong nagging belief that they are doing this only to bother us and threaten us as any court judgment against us would be reflected on our credit history. I would like to know how this might effect our credit history?
We are 2 and half months into the 6 month lease and the landlord has asked to vacate after one and half months, so he is the one breaking the lease not us. So I guess we are covered on that front.
You should research "retaliatory evictions". In my state, it is illegal to evict someone because they are asking for repairs to be done. Of course, now he is evicting you because you haven't paid rent, but at the time of the original eviction notice, it sounds like you were current.
Either way, you will need to go by what your legal council says. State laws are too different to get specific advice here that will help. For example, in my state, you don't have to hold deposits in interest bearing accounts, and the tenants are never allowed to apply deposit to rent.
Besides that, the laws are different in most states if you are renting a room in someone's place of residence. It may or may not have even been a legal rental. I would definitely go with a lawyer's advice on this one.
You should research "retaliatory evictions". In my state, it is illegal to evict someone because they are asking for repairs to be done. Of course, now he is evicting you because you haven't paid rent, but at the time of the original eviction notice, it sounds like you were current.
Either way, you will need to go by what your legal council says. State laws are too different to get specific advice here that will help. For example, in my state, you don't have to hold deposits in interest bearing accounts, and the tenants are never allowed to apply deposit to rent.
Besides that, the laws are different in most states if you are renting a room in someone's place of residence. It may or may not have even been a legal rental. I would definitely go with a lawyer's advice on this one.
Lets say the tenant failed to pay there last months rent on a 12month lease, would you have to refund the SD if the unit was without damages or repairs?
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