Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in New Jersey
''Unwanted Guest''
When does extending a helping hand to someone in need become a matter for the courts? I allowed my girlfriend to move in with her daughter and stay with me until she could put together enough money to rent her own apartment. I asked that she pay me $150 a week in order to offset the increased costs associated with having two more people using electric, gas, water, etc. etc. Since she has moved in I have been the victim of her excessive drinking, verbal assaults, and sometimes violent outbursts toward me and her daughter. I have had the police at this residence twice now and cannot continue living like this. I spoke with the officers and asked them how I could handle this, they referred me to family services. The two officers said that because she had established residency here by enrolling her daughter in the local school, they could not ask her to leave that it is a matter for family services and possibly the courts. My question is: How can I have them removed from my house as this has back fired into a big nightmare for myself and my neighbors who prefer to live in a peaceful neighborhood?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: ''Unwanted Guest''
1. You are within your rights to exclude gf from the premises if she is not a tenant.
2. The interpretation of the law by the police is not necessarily a good one.
3. Some important right have to do with exactly what goes on in gf's "violent" outbursts.
4. You should consult a lawyer in person to get somthing done before gf gets more firmly entrenched.
5. Contacting DYFS is not a bad idea as a parallel path, but involve your lawyer too.