Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in New Jersey

I am a resident of New Jersey and I was looking for some information on Landlord tenant issues:

We moved inour house in August of 06 and signed a one year lease to August 07. We have been living in house since then and have never signed another lease and as far as we understood we were on a month to month basis. We wrote our landlord and told him of our plans to move on January 15th. He called back and said that we have to stay in the house to August because we promised to be there for 5 years. We never promised to be there for 5 years him and his wife had a five year plan to move into the house we are living in after 5 years. First off the 5 years were up last August of 2011 any way and he said if we try to move he will contact his lawyers. I have been reading up about landlord tenant laws and there is a section in there that speaks about using your security deposit for your rent. Our landlord has never given us any information about where our deposit money is located, we have never seen a statement and interest has never been discussed with us. He has $1950 of security one month rent plus an additional half month for our dog. I would like to put it in writing to him that he can use the security for out last month and half rent and that we won't be giving him any more money. This will also avoid having to deal with the hassle of getting our deposit back because we already know he will make that a problem. The house is in great shape and has no damage. ( We will taking Video of the house before we move out) Is it possible to have him use that money for the rent since it doesn't seem that he followed the rules of the security deposit?


Asked on 12/01/11, 8:02 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Larry Raiken Larry S Raiken LLC

Your question poses several issues for which you should retain an attorney to protect your rights. Although you may not have signed a new lease the terms of that lease remain in effect. To properly respond to your question a review of the lease in question is necessary. Please call my office and set up an appointment.

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Answered on 12/01/11, 8:09 am
John Corbett Corbett Law Firm LLC

(1) If you did not sign a new lease, you are on a month to month tenancy and can leave by giving one month's advance notice. If the landlord had presented you with a new lease, the situation would be different but he did not. (2) If your landlord has not told you where the security deposit is kept, you may apply it to pay the rent and can never be required to restore it. (3) Taking pictures is a very good idea. You may also want to get a witness to look over the premises before you leave because you anticipate a problem. Do both sides a favor: Be sure you turn over the keys to the landlord and get a receipt. That will establish that you have vacated and the landlord will then not be required to sue to have you evicted.

See also: http://info.corbettlaw.net/lawguru.htm

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Answered on 12/01/11, 7:27 pm


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