Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in New Jersey

Hi. This is a question about a Lease Contract.

I am Italian and my working visa will expire July 23, 2010 and after that I have a month to leave the US. I live in NJ. My 1 year lease contract started February 28, 2009 and was supposed to end February 28, 2010 and on the contract it was written that the Rental Agreement should have be renewed every month unless either the tenant or the landlord gave written notice 60 days before the proposed date of ending.

I received a letter from the landlord on December 31, 2009. In that letter the landlord let me know about the increase of the lease starting from February 28, 2010 telling me that he must terminate my current lease and offer a new lease at an increase in rent. He also wrote that there was a change in the lease contract agreement. The change was this: "60 day written notice on the first of the month prior to the lease end date is required to vacate".

He wrote that my new 12 month lease would have ended on February 28, 2011 and that I have to advise the management in writing by January 1, 2010 if I wanted to vacate the apartment by February 28, 2010. That means a 1 day notice.

I was in italy during that time and I came back January 5, 2010 realising all the thing.

I asked explanations and the management told me that I am locked till February 28, 2011 and they can break the lease only if I find another tenant willing to take the apartment.

I want to ask you if all that is legal regarding the change in the contract and the 1 day notice that I had.

I want also to ask you if there is a law that let me end the contract because I have to leave the Country for my VISA exipiration.

I hope it is all clear.

Thanks a lot

Matteo


Asked on 6/23/10, 4:56 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
John Corbett Corbett Law Firm LLC

If you did not sign the new lease, you are not "locked in." You are on a month to month tenancy and have the right to leave with 30 days notice. � Under NJ law, the landlord must in most cases offer you a new lease which may contain reasonable changes. At that point, your options are to agree to the new lease terms or to vacate. However, if you hold over without signing the new lease, the relationship becomes a "tenancy at sufferance" meaning that either party can end the relationship upon thirty days notice. So, if everything is as you have described, you can vacate upon thirty day's notice. If you think that you will have a problem getting your security deposit back, give me a call. � See also: http://info.corbettlaw.net/lawguru.htm

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Answered on 6/23/10, 9:03 pm


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