Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in New Jersey
Tenant won't pay rent increase due to unreturned lease
My tenant agreed to and signed a new lease stating a $50 increase in rent starting May 1. She signed the lease and faxed it to me by May 1. We did not sign and return the lease until May 15, but her rent check for May only provided the old rent. My tenant is arguing that because she did not have the lease returned to her, she should not have to pay the $50 increase for May.
Is she correct?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Tenant won't pay rent increase due to unreturned lease
It depends on what the lease says about the starting date. Assuming that it was for a fixed, calendar period, the tenant has to pay according to the lease. If the lease was to be effective as of the date that it was signed by both parties, the tenant was a "holdover" tenant for the intervening period and is obligated to pay the reasonable value of the premises which most courts would set at the old rent absent unusual circumstances.
To give you a more definite opinion, I would have to read the lease.
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