CHAPTER 5: eviction
ARTICLE 1:EVICTIONgenerally
LT:5-1.1. Eviction of tenants generally
A landlord may not terminate a tenancy or evict a tenant from rental premises without satisfying the requirements of this Chapter.
a. Possession of rental premises shall be returned to a landlordby execution of a judgment of possessionupon establishment by the landlord of a ground for eviction, in accordance with this Chapter, in a summary or plenary proceeding.
b. Forcible or unlawful entry and detainer of rental premises or any method of self-helpshall not be used by a landlord to evict a tenant or obtain possession of rental premises subject to a tenancy.
c. A provision in a lease waiving this section is against public policy and unenforceable.
Source: New.
COMMENT
This section is new and added, at the suggestion of a commenter, for clarification.
LT:5-1.2.Tenant and landlord; what is included
For purposes of this Chapter:
a. “Tenant”includes any tenant at will or for any duration, and the tenant’s subtenant, assigns or legalrepresentatives; and
b. “Landlord” includes the landlord’s agent, or an owner or owner’s agent, as appropriate. For purposes of eviction from residential rental premises, “landlord” also includes, unless otherwise stated, a landlord’s or owner’s successor in possession or ownership, such as a foreclosing mortgagee or a purchaser at a sheriff’s sale.
Source: 2A:18-51; 2A:18-53; 2A:18-61.1.
COMMENT
This section is derived from its source provisions. Notably, both source sections 2A:18-53 and 2A:18-61.1 expressly apply to tenants and lessees and their assigns, undertenants or legal representatives. The Anti-Eviction Act was amended in 1986 to, inter alia,expand the act’s coverage to include a landlord’s or owner’s successor in ownership or possession. See The Chase Manhattan Bank v. Josephson, 135 N.J. 209, 221-222 (1994).
LT: 5-1.3. Waiver; prohibited
A provision in a lease for residential rental premiseswhereby a tenant covered by section LT:5-2.1 agrees that the tenancy may be terminated or not renewed for other than good cause as provided in section LT:5-2.1, or whereby a tenant waives any rights under this Chapter, is against public policy and unenforceable.
Source: 2A:18-61.4.
COMMENT
This section adopts source section 2A:18-61.4 with some modifications in language.
ARTICLE 1A. SUMMARY ACTION FOR EVICTION
LT: 5-1A.1. Establishment of summary action
a.A tenant may be evicted by a summary action commenced in the Superior Court, Law Division, Special Civil Part.
b. No claim other than for eviction may be joined in the summary action.
Source: New.
COMMENT
Eviction by summary proceeding is a creation of the legislature and in derogation of the common law. See Carteret Properties v. Variety Donuts, Inc., 49 N.J. 116, 123 (1967) (jurisdiction of the court to apply stern remedy of dispossession stems from the statute with which courts demand strict compliance); Carr v. Johnson, 211 N.J.Super. 341, 347 (App. Div. 1986) (summary dispossess statute is “entirely a creature of the Legislature . . . and as such its provisions should be construed strictly.”); Floral Park Tenants Ass’n v. Project Holding, Inc., 152 N.J.Super. 582, 591 (Chan. Div. 1977) aff’d, 166 N.J.Super. 354 (App. Div. 1979), cert. denied, 81 N.J. 278 (1979) (“[T]he purpose of the Anti-Eviction Act was not to eliminate evictions but to limit them to reasonable grounds.”),
A landlord may commence an action for possession of rental premises from a tenant in a plenary proceeding if the landlord seeks possession and money damages or other relief. The landlord or the tenant also may seek to transfer an eviction action to the Law Division in accordance with section LT:5-1A.2.
LT:5-9.11A.2. Transfer of proceedings into Law Division; trial by jury
a.At any time before trial of an action for eviction,under this Chaptercomes to trialin the Special Civil Part, either the plaintiff or the defendant may apply to the Superior Court for transfer of the action from the Special Civil Part to the Law Division,. whichtThe Ccourt maythenshall order that the action be transferred if it determines, in its discretion, that the matter is of sufficient importance.
b. In determining whether a matter is of sufficient importance, the court shall consider the following factors:
(1) the complexity of the issues presented and the procedural limitations of a summary action;
(2) the importance to the public good of the issues presented;
(3) the presence of multiple actions for possession arising out of the same transaction;
(4) the amount in controversy, taking into account the alleged extensiveness of the defects and the cost of repairs as well as the amount of rent claimed to be unpaid;
(5) the need for equitable relief of a permanent nature;
(6) the need for clarification or re-examination of the substantive law involved, requiring a right of appeal to the parties on non-jurisdictional grounds;
(7) the appropriateness of class relief;
(58) the presence of multiple actions for possession arising out of the same transaction or series of transactions;
(69) the need for uniformity of result;
(710) the necessity of joining additional parties or claims in order to reach a final result; and
(811) whether the procedural limitations of a summary action (other than the unavailability of a jury trial) would significantly prejudice substantial interests either of the litigants or of the judicial system that would outweigh the prejudice that would result from any delay caused by the transfer.
b.c. A summary action for eviction pursuant to this Chapter, commenced in the Special Civil Part butthat is transferred to the Law Division shall be tried before a jury, unless a jury is waived.
Source: 2A:18-60; 2A:18-61.
COMMENT
This section adopts the provisions of source sections 2A:18-60 and 2A:18-61 with some modifications in language. The criteria for determining that a matter should be transferred, as determined by several cases, notably, Morrocco v. Felton, 112 N.J. Super. 226 (Law Div. 1970), Township of Bloomfield v. Rosanna’s, 253 N.J. Super. 551 (App. Div. 1992) and its progeny, are now set out in the statute.
ARTICLE 12: Grounds for action for EVICTION
LT:5-1.25-2.1. Eviction; residential rental premises; grounds
A tenant may be evicted from residential rental premises, exceptspecialresidential rental premises as provided in subsection b. ofLT:5-1.32.2,by execution of a judgment of possession entered in bythe Superior Court in a summary actiononly upon the establishment of any one of the followinggroundsprovided in this section, or provided in section LT:5-2.4,which shall be deemed good cause for the eviction:.
a. Failure to pay rent or willful destruction of rental premises or physical injury to landlord.
If the tenant:
(1) fails to pay rent that is due in accordance with the lease or other agreement governing the tenancy.Any portion of rent unpaid by the tenant but used to continue the service of an electricity, gas, water or sewer public utility to the rental premises, after receipt of notice that the service was in danger of discontinuance because of nonpayment by the landlord, shall not be deemed to be unpaid rent for purposes of this section; or
(2) fails to pay rent after service of a valid notice to vacate and a notice of increase of rent provided that the rent increase is not unconscionable and complies with all laws and municipal ordinances governing rent increases; or
(3) willfully or by reason of gross negligence eithercauses or allows destruction or damage to the rental premises or the leased real property of which the rental premises are a partor physicallyinjures the landlord or the landlord’s employee at the rental premises or at the real property containing the rental premises; or
b. Continuing conduct after service of notice to cease.
If the tenant, after service of a valid notice to cease, continues to:
(1) habitually and without legal justification pay rent after the date that it is due; or
(2) be so disorderly as to destroy the peace and quiet of the other tenants or occupants living in the rental premises or surrounding neighborhood; or
(3) substantially violate or breach any of the landlord’s rules and regulations governing the premises, provided such rules and regulations are reasonable and have been accepted in writing by the tenant or made a part of the lease at the beginning of the initial lease term;
(4) substantially violate or breach any of the covenants or agreements contained in the lease where sufficient language reserves a right of re-entry to the landlord for a substantial violation of the covenant or agreement, provided that the covenant or agreement is reasonable and was contained in the lease at the beginning of the initial lease term; or
(5) in public housing under the control of a public housing authority or redevelopment agency, substantially violate or breach any covenants or agreements contained in the lease pertaining to illegal uses of controlled substances, or other illegal activities, regardless of whether sufficient language reserves a right of reentry to the landlord for a violation of the covenant or agreement, provided that the covenant or agreement conforms to federal guidelines regarding the lease provisions and was contained in the lease at the beginning of the initial lease term; or
c. Criminal offenses.
If the tenantis convicted of or pleads guilty to, or if a juvenile, has been adjudicated delinquent on the basis of an act which if committed by an adult would constitute an offense under, any of the criminal statutes set forth in (1), (2) or (3) below, provided that no action for eviction may be brought more than two years after the adjudication or conviction or more than two years after the person’s release from incarceration, whichever is later, for an offense under subsections (1) or (2):
(1) the Comprehensive Drug Reform Act of 1987, N.J.S. 2C:35-1 et seq. involving the use, possession, manufacture, dispensing or distribution of a controlled dangerous substance, controlled dangerous substance analog or drug paraphernalia within the meaning of that act in or on the rental premises, or the building and land appurtenant thereto or the mobile home park in which the rental premises are located, and has not, in connection with the sentence for that offense, either successfully completed, or been admitted to and continued upon probation while completing, a drug rehabilitation program pursuant to N.J.S. 2C:35-14; or
(2) N.J.S. 2C:12-1 or N.J.S. 2C:12-3 involving assault or terroristic threats against the landlord, a member of the landlord’s family or an employee of the landlord; or
(3) N.J.S. 2C:20-1 et al., involving the theft of property from the landlord, the rental premises, or other tenants residing in the same building or complex; or
d. Knowingly harboring or permitting occupancy.
If the tenant knowingly harbors or harbored a person convicted of or who pleads guilty to any offense set forth in subsection c., or otherwise permits or permitted such person to occupy the premises for residential purposes, whether continuously or intermittently, except that this subsection shall not apply to the harboring of or permitting occupancy by a juvenile who has been adjudicated delinquent upon the basis of an act which if committed by an adult would constitute the offense of use or possession under N.J.S. 2C:35-1 et seq. No action for eviction based on an offense under subsections c. (1)or (2) ofLT:5-1.2c.(1) or (2)2.1may be brought more than two years after the adjudication or conviction or more than two years after the person’s release from incarceration, whichever is later; or
e. Liability in civil action for eviction based on criminal offenses.
If the tenantis found, by a preponderance of the evidence, liable in a civil action for eviction under this Chapter based upon an offense set forth in subsection c. or if the tenant knowingly harbors a person who committed such an offense, or otherwise permits the person to occupy the premises for residential purposes, whether continuously or intermittently, except that this subsection shall not apply to the harboring or permitting occupancy by a juvenile who has been adjudicated delinquent upon the basis of an act which if committed by an adult would constitute the offense of use or possession under N.J.S. 2C:35-1 et seq.; or
f.Violation of section LT:5-2.4.
If, as provided in section LT:5-2.4, the tenant is found to have violated N.J.S. 33:1-1 et seq., pertaining to the regulation of alcoholic beverages on the rental premises; or to use any rental premises for the purposes of prostitution in violation of the criminal statutes; or to engage in any conduct that a court finds creates an imminent serious danger to others, to the property, or to the immediate vicinity of the rental premises; or to knowingly give false material information or omit material facts in an application for tenancy upon which the landlord relies to the landlord’s detriment.
f.g.Permissible use of premises bylandlord.
If the owner of the rental premiseslandlordseeks to:
(1) permanently board up or demolish the rental premises because of having been cited by local or State housing inspectors for substantial violations affecting the health and safety of tenants and eliminating the violations is economically unfeasible; or
(2) comply with the local or State housing inspectors, after having been cited with substantial violations affecting the health and safety of tenants, where doing so without evicting the tenant is economically unfeasible, in which case simultaneously with service of notice of eviction pursuant to this subsection the ownerlandlordshall notify the Department of Community Affairs of the intention to institute eviction proceedings and provide the Department with such other information as it requires pursuant to rules and regulations, and the Department subsequently shall inform all appropriate parties and the court of its view with respect to the feasibility of compliance without eviction of the tenant and may, in its discretion, appear and present evidence; or
(3) correct an illegal occupancy because of having been cited by local or State housing inspectors or zoning officers and doing so without evicting the tenant is unfeasible; or
(4) permanently retire the rental premises from the rental market pursuant to the redevelopment or land clearance plan in a blighted area and the owner is a governmental agency; or
(5) permanently retire the building or mobile home park from residential use or use as a mobile home park, provided this subsection shall not apply to circumstances covered under subsection f.g.(1), (2), (3) or (4); or
(6) at the time of lease termination, alter the terms and conditions of the lease by proposing reasonable changes of substance, including but not limited to a change in the duration of the lease, which the tenant, after written notice, refuses to accept; provided that where a tenant has received a notice to vacate and demand for possession under subsection LT:5-2.3b.(6)3.2or has a protected tenancy status pursuant to Chapter 7, the ownerlandlordshall have the burden of proving that any change in the terms and conditions of the lease is reasonable and does not substantially reduce the rights and privileges to which the tenant was entitled; or
g.h.Termination by landlord of employment of the tenant.
If the landlordor owner conditioned the tenancy upon and in consideration for the tenant’s employment by the landlord or owner, and the employment is being terminated; or
h.i.Conversion from rental market to condominium or cooperative.
If the ownerofa building or mobile home parklandlordis converting two or more residential units or park sites in theabuilding or mobile homepark from the rental market to a condominium, cooperative or fee simple ownership, other than as provided in subsection i., except that no action shall be commenced pursuant to this subsection against a senior citizen tenant or disabled tenant with protected tenancy status under Chapter 7 of this Title so long as, in accordance with Chapter 7, the protected tenancy status has not been terminated nor the protected tenancy period expired; or
i.j.Personal occupancy by owneror buyerlandlord who is owner.
If the ownerof a building or mobile home parklandlord:
(1) of a building or mobile home parkwhich is constructed as or being converted to a condominium, cooperative or fee simple ownership, seeks to evict a tenant whose initial tenancy began after the master deed or agreement establishing the condominium, cooperative or subdivision plat was recorded, because the ownerlandlordcontracted to sell the residential unit to a buyer who wishes to personally occupy the unit, and the contract of sale requires the unit to be vacant at the time of closing of title, provided that no action may be brought against a tenant under this subsection unless the tenant was served with a statement pursuant to section LT:5-89.3;
(2) of three or less condominium or cooperative units seeks to evict a tenant whose initial tenancy began by rental from anownerlandlordof three or less residential units after the master deed or agreement establishing the condominium or cooperative was recorded because the ownerlandlordwishes to personally occupy the unit, or contracts to sell the unit to a buyer who wishes to personally occupy the unit, and the contract of sale requires the unit to be vacant at the time of closing of title; or
(3) of three residential units or less, seeks to personally occupy a unit, or contracts to sell a residential unit to a buyer who wishes to personally occupy the unit and the contract of sale requires the unit to be vacant at the time of closing of title.; or
Source: 2A:18-61.1.
COMMENT
This section adopts the provisions of source section 2A:18-61.1 with some modifications in language, but categorizes by subject matter the grounds for eviction for the purposes of clarity and order. Subsection a. is based on 2A:18-61.1(a.), (f.) and (c.). Subsection b. is based on 2A:18-61.1(j.), (b.), (d.) and (e.). Subsection c. is based on 2A:18-61.1 (n.), (o.) and (q.). Subsection d. is based on 2A:18-61.1 (n.), (o.), (p.) and (q.). Subsection e. is based on 2A:18-61.1 (p.). Subsection f. is derived from current sections 33:1-54 and 46:8-8, but also adds new grounds. See the comment to LT:5-2.4.Subsection fg. is based on 2A:18-61.1 (g.), (h.) and (i.). Subsection gh. is based on 2A:18-61.1 (m.) Subsection hi. is based on 2A:18-61.1 (k.). Subsection ij. is based on 2A:18-61.1 (l.).
Language was added to subsection a. (3) to address the court’s call to the Legislature to resolve the “seeming inconsistency” in requiring a notice to cease be served on the tenant when the ground for evictionis disorderly conduct, i.e., personal injury or assault upon the landlord by the tenant, while none is required when the ground for eviction is destruction of the rental premises. See Georgia King Associates v. Fraiser, 210 N.J.Super. 146, 148 (App.Div. 1986). The court commented that “[w]e recognize the seeming inconsistency in the two sections of the statute and agree that personal injury to the landlord or his employee may be far more serious than destruction, damage or injury to the premises. However, the legislation is clear, and the inconsistency is a matter for legislative, rather than judicial action.”
LT:5-1.35-2.2. Eviction from special residential premises; owner-occupied residential; hotel, motel or guest house; occupancy by developmentally disabled person; grounds
a. A tenant may be evicted from special residential rental premises, as set forth in subsection b.,Upon establishment of the grounds set forth in subsection b., a tenant,by execution of a judgment of possession entered in bythe Superior Court in a summary actionupon establishment of any one of the grounds provided in this section.in a summary action, may be evicted from:
(1) owner-occupied residential rental premises with not more than two rental units, or;