N.J. DCA Landlord/Tenant Information Series — (English)

Citation
N.J. DCA Landlord/Tenant Information Series — (English)
Jurisdiction
New Jersey (state)
Source
Official source
Original Source
https://www.nj.gov/dca/codes/publications/pdf_lti/t_i_r.pdf ↗

Related Parts of This Source

Full Text

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A person who is illegally evicted may file a complaint with the Clerk of the Landlord-
Tenant Section, Special Civil Part of the Law Division, or the Chancery Division, of the Superior
Court, in the county in which the act was committed. In a successful action by a tenant evicted
through forcible entry and detainer, the court may award possession of the dwelling unit and all
damages, including court costs and reasonable attorney fees. If the dwelling unit cannot be returned
to the tenant as a result of the self-help eviction, the court may award damages.

Causes for Eviction
Listed below are the statutory grounds for eviction as set forth in the Anti-Eviction Statute.

A. Failure to Pay Rent
If a tenant fails to pay rent, the landlord may immediately take legal action to have the
tenant evicted. The landlord is not required to give the tenant notice before filing an
eviction suit, except if the tenant resides in federally subsidized housing. If the tenant
resides in federally subsidized housing a 14-day notice must be given before filing a suite
for eviction (N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1(a)). Note: A tenant may not be evicted for nonpayment
of rent, if the tenant used the unpaid portion of rent to continue utility services to the rental
premises after receiving notice that the services were in danger of being discontinued, and
if the landlord was responsible for the payment of those utility services and did not make
the payments required to retain the use of those services. These utilities include electric,
gas, water, and sewer. The money used to pay for the continuance of those services shall
be considered a portion of the rental payment.