Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in New Jersey
My current landlord has been using electricity connected to my meter since June 2006 when I moved in. The 1st floor meter also connects to the basement and attic. The basement has a washer and dryer, exercise equipment and a hair removal business which the landlord runs. In the business area there are at least 3 high intensity track light tracks, the equipment she uses, an air conditioner and she uses electric space heaters. In October or November of 2009 she moved her computer into the attic and made it an office. She used an electric space heater up in the attic as well which lead to my bill being more than 3 times last years. She was made aware of the basement being on my meter over a year ago and made no effort to fix it. I found out about the attic due to the high bills I received this winter. She refuses to compensate me in full. In the first week of Feb 2010 she told me she'd get everything squared away within two weeks. By the 28th she still had not gotten back to me making it impossible for me to decide to move. She also told me she would compensate me what *she* though appropriate when she felt it was necessary. On March 6th I found a new apartment to rent in April but she refuses to end the lease by the 31st of March and claimed she would start showing the apartment immediately even though she wishes to have me stay till May. I offered to drop the issue completely if she allowed the lease to end March 31st but as I said she refused. She did offer to take $230 off April's rent to approximately cover Nov, Dec and Jan 2010 electrical bills but that obviously doesn't cover Feb or March or going back to June 2006.
What are my options? Should I pay April and then bring her to small claims court?
1 Answer from Attorneys
You have a bit of a mess. I would need to speak to you and review the documents to give you some advice.