Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New Jersey
Raccoons in the attic
My wife and I rent a carriage house which is attached to a barn behind our landlord's house. The house and barn share a roof. We share a driveway with the landlord and the landlord parks a car in the barn. There is a front and back door to the barn and numerous windows, a couple of which are broken. The landlords are nice, but slobs. The trash cans are kept next to the driveway and have no lids. Birds, squirrels, their own dog and other wild animals raid the trash and trash often sits in the driveway for days after it has been picked at. The reason I am writing is because raccoons have taken residence in the rafters above our house since October. You can hear them every day at dusk and often wake us up at odd hours. Our landlord got an exterminator who put a cage-trap. It caught one animal after 2 months(an opposum). We have made numerous attempts to frighten the animals by banging on the ceilings and throwing things in their direction. Frankly, I think the raccoon is smarter than the exterminator. We have politely, consistantly complained, but we feel not enough has been done to get rid of these animals. Not only are we disturbed at sleep, we are worried about rabies,diseases and mating season. Please help!
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Raccoons in the attic
My colleague from North Jersey posted an "answer" today with only an advertisement for his firm. This is prohibited on the LawGuru network when an answer is not also given. What you need is some legitimate advice, which I will try to give you. If you have a written lease, it likely has a clause that requires your landlord to allow you to peacably occupy the premises. By not removing the animals, he is violating that lease clause. This right would be implied even without a written lease. I would suggest you either pay someone to rid the premises of the animals and then charge the landlord by deducting same from the rent (be sure to give him written notice of your intent and the opportunity to take action before you do this) or you may want to consider moving from the premises as this appears to be a constructive eviction. In any case, keep in mind that this advice is based purely on the little bit of information that you have given to me. There may be other factors that would change my opinion. Further, no one can rely on advice from an attorney who has not been retained. Since it appears that you have not retained an attorney, before you take any further action, you should contact an attorney (either me or someone else) to discuss your matter in more detail. Only then will you be able to rely on the advice. [NOW FOR THE COMMERCIAL, WHICH IS PERMITTED WHEN A LEGITIMATE ANSWER IS GIVEN!] I will be happy to assist you. However, you need to call me at 856-546-8010. If you mention LawGuru, there will be no charge for your first consultation. Good luck! Rob Gleaner
Re: Raccoons in the attic
Our firm can assist you. We represent owners and managers of over 3000 residential apartment units in NJ. and regularly assist tenants with problems they encounter with landlords.
Please visit our web site and review our Law Review articles at
New Jersey Real Estate Law ~ New Jersey Law in Review
http://www.njlawnet.com/njlawreview/njrealestatelaw.html
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