Are You a Landlord Dealing with a Tenant or a Leasing Issue? If So, Contact a New Jersey Landlord Attorney Today.
We represent only landlords in eviction matters.
Fredrick P. Niemann, Esq.
Christopher J. Hanlon, Esq.
Tenancy law is a minefield in New Jersey. It demands strict compliance and traps the inexperienced landlord with punitive and oppressive consequences.
Registration and notice requirements, prohibitions against certain types of rental practices, security deposit regulations, municipal and state building, fire, zoning, and code compliance laws and ordinances, awful tenants and/or tenants who fail to pay rent, all unite to place you at risk for claims by the state’s tenants and/or a municipality.
Hanlon Niemann & Wright is a firm with a statewide landlord/tenant practice. Every week, we’re appearing somewhere in the Superior Court(s) of New Jersey, representing our many clients in matters of tenant eviction(s), habitability claims, zoning and land use, rent control, code compliance, discrimination, and lease violations.
Our senior partner is a recognized authority in landlord/tenant law.
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Call (732) 863-9900. Ask Mr. Niemann to discuss your landlord/tenant matter or email him at fniemann@hnlawfirm.com.
Our firm speaks frequently before state associations of landlords, mobile home park owners, operators, and managers, as well as retail, commercial, and apartment owners. We represent many small and medium-sized landlords and property owners as well. Our senior partner is a prolific author, having written numerous articles relating to landlord issues in New Jersey. On the following pages, we discuss key court cases and legal topics that landlords need information about.
An Important Message from Christopher J. Hanlon, Esq.
Warning to Landlords Before Filing More Evictions: There are Significant Changes to Consider
As I send this to you, we are all waiting for Gov. Murphy to consider signing legislation (S3691), approved by the New Jersey State Senate and Assembly, that would significantly limit eviction remedies for certain outstanding residential rent accounts. He may sign it in the form approved by the legislature, or he may not. If he can force a change, then the eviction remedy limitations I’m about to describe may expand. Because of that uncertainty, you may want to hold off on filing certain evictions, as they may have to be dismissed. The good news is that in recognition of the enormous debt to society that landlords have paid during the pandemic, a significant amount of additional rental aid will be made available through a new Eviction Prevention Program to be administered by the State.
The legislation recognizes that, as a result of the pandemic, significant unemployment has resulted among tenants, and a considerable number of families or households adversely impacted by this are in minority populations, “victimized by systemic and structural racism. They all need and deserve help. The legislature intends to make this help available by doing several things. The first is to limit evictions against four classes of households: “very low-income households”; low-income households”; “middle-income households”; and “moderate-income households”. The last category of households is those with current gross annual income exceeding 50% but less than 80% of the area (typically the county) median income for a household of the same size and composition. No one above that category (i.e., households making more than 80%) gets any relief. (As an example, for a family of three in Monmouth County, the median income for a “household” (2.53 people) in 2020 was $82,265.00. 80% of that is $65,812.00. Households earning more than that get no relief under this law.) Your County’s median income data should be accessible online. If you need assistance, let me know.
For a household to have the court acknowledge that they belong in one of these categories and are therefore deserving of protection, they must file a certification containing the details required by the statute to confirm their entitlement.
The protection that persons in these qualifying categories get from the law is a ban on eviction if it could be based on their failure to pay rent during the “covered period, i.e., March 1, 2020, through August 31, 2021. The eviction prohibition remedy is only applicable to evictions based upon failure to pay rent, habitual late payment of rent, or failure to pay rent increase during the “covered period. It does not apply to any other cause for eviction. It is the intent of the legislature that immediately upon the effective date of the law, all other types of evictions can proceed. That would not eliminate the tenancy trial ban the Supreme Court has imposed, but I, for one, believe that ban will also be lifted very soon. If the Supreme Court dovetails its reopening with this law, it should be immediate so rent cases where relief will be afforded can be “adjudicated” (tenants can file income-related certifications) and all other cases can proceed.
That means many types of lease enforcement cases that were not considered “emergent” under Directive 20-20, which limited trials to be conducted during the pandemic, can proceed immediately without regard to any aspect of this new law. No one in any of these protected groups can be evicted for any rent that accrued during the “covered period. Therefore, if a qualifying certification is filed in any pending tenancy case or in any tenancy case filed before the end of the moratorium (see below), the case will be dismissed. It will not be dismissed if they cannot certify that they belong in one of the protected groups, or if the claim is for rent that became do before March 1, 2020 (provided, however, if the case is not dismissed because of a rent debt that is that old, you still cannot pursue a judgment for the rent attributable to the “covered period” in that case.
One of the stated purposes of the legislation is to limit the governor’s ability to continue the eviction lockout beyond that provided for under this statute. As indicated, all persons who fall into any of the four groups cannot be evicted for rent accruing during the “covered period” and cannot be otherwise locked out based on a rent-related case filed before August 31, 2021. For persons in the lower three groups, which means those persons who earn Less than 50% of the median household income for the county the property is located in, further relief is available -the eviction ban for them is extended until December 31, 2021. You can still get a judgment for possession against them in a rent-related case for rent that comes due after September 1, 2021, but execution of the warrant is stayed by virtue of this statute (if it gets signed in this form).
The law acknowledges explicitly that any rent that is due and owing can be considered a “civil debt. There is no limitation on a landlord’s ability to sue their tenant to obtain a judgment for this unpaid rent and to pursue any available collection remedies. You still have a valid claim; it’s just that you cannot use pandemic-related rent arrears accrued during the covered period to justify an eviction.
The bill has several other significant changes related to your landlord-tenant relationship. As it relates to any debt that you are owed that you can sue to collect, you cannot assign the right to collect this debt to a third party.
As indicated, the state intends to make a significant number of additional rental subsidies available. The statute provides that should you participate in such a program, you must waive late fees. Otherwise, they are collectible under standard rules.
The law limits your ability to use or deal with specific information related to unpaid “covered period rent”. You cannot report any unpaid “covered period rent” to a third party. You cannot use information related to a tenant’s failure to pay “covered period rent,” should that be reflected in a creditworthiness analysis you use to consider the approval of any applicant. Don’t forget, for mobile home park landlords, if you wrongfully disapprove someone, you should have two concerns: whatever claims that that person may assert against you, and any application rejection that can be argued to be “unreasonable” interferes with the statutory resale rights of your existing selling tenants.
The law increases the jurisdictional dollar amount of the lower court (special civil part) to allow suit for any amount of unpaid “covered period rent, to give landlords access to a faster court for this purpose.
The law requires the establishment of an “Eviction Prevention Program” to administer the additional rental aid, which is simultaneously being made available as part of this law. The bill contains a lot of information regarding qualification for participation in this program, which will not be set forth here. Please get in touch with me with questions.
As part of that Eviction Prevention Program, tenant applicants for aid can make an application to the Department of Community Affairs, which is administering the program, to make habitability award deductions from payments due to you if they make related complaints,s which the DCA will then adjudicate.
The DCA will implement forms that must be used by the courts and landlords to address information related to this law.
To participate in the Eviction Prevention Program successfully, your tenants have to demonstrate a “risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability. Therefore, the filing of eviction complaints may assist them in qualifying for aid if the case would not otherwise be dismissed under the other provisions of this law.
If you obtain rental payments after August 31, 2021, the statute provides how those payments are to be “applied,” with preference being given to post “covered period rent” debt.
Based on all of the foregoing, my advice is for landlords to continue filing rent evictions when you have reason to believe that the affected households will not qualify for protection. Unemployment benefits do qualify as income. When in doubt, there is no reason not to communicate with the tenant before you file to try to avoid wasting money on legal fees. Or, if you cannot get adequate cooperation, file the complaint to force the certification process. If there is no doubt that a tenant will qualify for protection, filing an eviction action before September 1, 2021, seems a waste of time.
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I own several small businesses. I’m good at what I do, but dealing with legal matters and lawyers is stressful. I called Hanlon Niemann & Wright and have developed a great relationship with their lawyers and staff. They have reviewed my leases, negotiated the buyout of my former business partner, handled land-use issues in a neighboring county, and, in general, really been there for me. I really like them personally and professionally. If you are a small business owner, give them a call.
—Mike Halsey, Middletown, NJ
If you would like to schedule an appointment to discuss your landlord matter, please get in touch with Fredrick P. Niemann, Esq., at fniemann@hnlawfirm.com. He can also be reached at (732) 863-9900, extension 115 or 107.
Landlord-Tenant Attorney Serving These New Jersey Counties:
Monmouth County, Ocean County, Essex County, Cape May County, Camden County, Mercer County, Middlesex County,
Bergen County, Morris County, Burlington County, Union County, Somerset County, Hudson County, Passaic County