Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in New Jersey

A warrant of removal is issued after a judgment for possession is obtained. It authorizes a court officer to remove a tenant.

The judgment for possession is enforced by the eviction of the tenant and all persons living with the tenant pursuant to a Warrant for Removal (rather than a Writ of Possession, as is done in a Law Division action by a Sheriff�s officer), executed by a Court Officer, as noted above.

N.J.S.A. 2A:18-57 Judgment for possession; warrant for removal; issuance

If no sufficient cause is shown to the contrary when the action comes on for trial, the court shall issue its warrant to any officer of the court, commanding him to remove all persons from the premises, and to put the claimant into full possession thereof, and to levy and make the costs out of the goods and chattels of the person in possession.

No warrant of removal shall issue until the expiration of 3 days after entry of judgment for possession, except as provided for in chapter 42 of this Title. [Emphasis added.]

Although N.J.S.A. 2A:18-57 is entitled �Judgment for Possession; warrant for removal; issuance,� the substance of the statute does not relate to the entry of a judgment; it relates only to the issuance and execution of the warrant. Rather, R. 6:6-3, 6:6-4, and 6:6-5 provide the authority for the entry of a judgment for possession.

Because �all persons� are to be removed from the premises, all tenants, subtenants, assignees and the like who have directly or indirectly contracted with the landlord for possession must be named as defendants, in order to satisfy due process in order to properly terminate their rights.

The form of the warrant has been changed (and amended to two pages), as will be seen in Appendix XI-G to the Rules of Court, to comply with the requirements of P.L. 2005, ch. 319, amending N.J.S.A. 2A:42-10.16 and 2C:17-3 (see infra, the subsections discussing those statutes).

R. 6:7-1(d) Warrant of Removal; Issuance, Execution

No warrant of removal shall issue until the expiration of three business days after entry of a judgment for possession, except that a warrant shall be issued within two days from the date of judgment in the case of a seasonal tenancy subject to N.J.S.A. 2A:42-10.17. Awarrant of removal shall not be executed earlier than the third business day after service on a residential tenant. If a judgment for possession is entered in a summary action for the recovery of premises and the landlord fails to apply in writing for a warrant of removal within 30 days after the entry of the judgment, or if the warrant is not executed within 30 days of its service, such warrant shall not thereafter be issued or executed, as the case may be, except on application to the court and written notice to the tenant served at least 7 days prior thereto by simultaneously mailing same by both certified and ordinary mail or in the manner prescribed for service of process in landlord-tenant actions by R. 6:2-3(b); provided, however, that either 30 day period may be extended by court order or written agreement executed by the parties subsequent to the entry of the judgment and filed with the clerk.For purposes of this rule, entry of judgment shall be defined as the date upon which the right to request a warrant for removal accrues.

The phrase �the date upon which the right to request a warrant� refers to the earliest date that a breach occurs, which is when the judgment may be entered and the warrant requested. The purpose of that phrase is to eliminate what would otherwise be a continuing threat by a landlord to execute on a stale warrant, and the 30 day provision gives sufficient time for the parties to negotiate some resolution other than a lockout.