Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in New Jersey

Re: landlord rights to represent himself in court

Assuming that your action is a New Jersey court other than Small Claims court in the Special Civil Part, you may not represent your LLC. You may think of your LLC and yourself as one-in-the-same (like a proprietorship), but the law does not. The LLC is a separate legal "person" under the law and, since it is not a natural person, it is incapable of representing itself. Therefore, the LLC must be represented by an attorney authorized to practice law in the State of New Jersey.

The good news is that landlord/tenant disputes are so common that those of us who practice in this area are usually able to provide representation in routine matters for fees that are very reasonable (and tax deductable). To take advantage of this, you will need to contact a lawyer closer to you than I am. If you are not regularly represented by a lawyer, contact the Sussex Bar Association, search here in Lawguru.com, or try Lawyers.com.