Don’t wait to contact an eviction attorney when you’re dealing with a tenant who refuses to leave your property. Our lawyers provide experienced eviction representation for New Jersey landlords. We can help you recover your properties for your own use. We also offer consulting on how to create leases that can protect you from having to deal with bad tenants.
For answers to any questions you have about the eviction process in New Jersey, contact us for a consultation, here. You can also review the information below to learn more about evictions, and take the necessary steps to remove a tenant from your property.
What are the Grounds for Eviction in New Jersey?
You must have cause to evict a tenant in New Jersey. However, missing the rent payment deadline is just cause for evicting a tenant. You also have a right to evict if the tenant is violating any terms of the lease agreement. For example, you could evict someone for smoking in a non-smoking unit or keeping a dog in a pet-free unit. Be aware of any illegal activity on your property to be ready to begin the eviction process.
The Eviction Process
Notice to Cease
A “Notice to Cease” is a warning to the tenant that you will no longer accept a continued violation of the lease. It is only necessary in cases where you have habitually allowed the tenant to pay rent late. After you have delivered the “Notice to Cease”, you can submit a “Notice to Quit” the next time the rent is late.
Notice to Quit
A “Notice to Quit” is document that you must deliver to the tenant to inform them that they have one month to vacate the property. If they remain on the property after the “Notice to Quit” has expired, you can promptly begin an eviction lawsuit.
Filing an Eviction Lawsuit
You can evict most tenants by filing an eviction lawsuit against them. In certain circumstances, it will be necessary to file the “Notice to Quit” first. Once you have won, the tenant will be legally compelled to exit the property or be charged with trespassing. If you’ve never accepted rent late, you can file the lawsuit when the tenant first refuses to leave after lease violation. Our eviction attorneys can help you file the suit, and it’s wise to get started as soon as the rent is late if you want to recover the unit for new tenants as quickly as possible.
Evictions with No Lease
Under New Jersey law, even a verbal agreement without documents can be considered a lease. If you agreed to allow someone to live on your property, that is enough to qualify as an “oral lease”, and you must follow normal eviction laws when you want to remove them.
Our attorneys offer experienced eviction representation no matter what circumstances you face. Contact Ragan & Ragan, PC today.