New Jersey eviction laws

No notice to quit is required before filing for unpaid rent. The landlord can file the complaint the day after rent is late. The tenant can stop the eviction by paying all rent owed plus court costs by the end of the trial day (and in some cases up to 3 business days after the lockout warrant is served).

• Late fees and attorney fees count as rent only if the written lease says they are 'additional rent'. For tenants in public or subsidized housing, and for certain senior-citizen tenants, late fees and other charges generally cannot be claimed as rent in the eviction.
• Rent from March 2020 through August 2021 (through December 2021 for some lower-income households) owed by income-qualified tenants cannot be the basis for eviction under P.L.2021, c.188; it can only be collected as an ordinary debt.
• Tenants in federally subsidized housing or properties with federally backed mortgages may be entitled to a 30-day notice before a nonpayment case (CARES Act and HUD rules).
• Accepting rent after filing may waive the case. Repeated late payment is a different ground (habitual late payment) that needs a Notice to Cease and a one-month Notice to Quit.

For disorderly conduct, breaking the landlord's reasonable written rules, breaking a lease term, or habitual late payment, the landlord must first serve a written Notice to Cease. Only if the tenant keeps doing it after that notice can the landlord serve a Notice to Quit: 3 days for disorderly conduct, one month for rule/lease violations and habitual late payment.

• The violation must be substantial, and a rule must be reasonable and in writing (or in the lease) for grounds (d) and (e).
• A Notice to Quit that does not state the cause in detail is defective and the case will be dismissed.
• Accepting rent for a period after the Notice to Quit's termination date can waive the notice.

For tenants covered by the Anti-Eviction Act, the end of a lease is not a reason to evict; the tenancy continues month to month and the landlord needs one of the listed causes. Only in an owner-occupied building with two or fewer rental units can the landlord evict simply because the lease ended.

• Owner-occupied building with 2 or fewer rental units: no Anti-Eviction Act protection. A month-to-month tenancy is ended with a written one-month notice to quit ending at the end of a rental month (N.J.S.A. 2A:18-56); a fixed-term tenant who stays after the lease ends can be sued as a holdover.
• Double-check with the court: The wizard should ask whether the owner lives in the building and how many units it has before offering a holdover eviction.

A landlord cannot end a covered tenancy just to get the unit back. Limited 'no-fault' grounds exist, each with its own notice: an owner of a building with 3 or fewer units who will personally live in the unit (or has sold to a buyer who will) needs 2 months' notice ending at the lease end; permanent retirement from residential use needs 18 months; condo/co-op conversion needs 3 years; required repairs or code compliance needing vacancy needs 3 months; refusing reasonable new lease terms needs 1 month.

• Other no-fault grounds and notice periods: (g) boarding up/demolition or code violations requiring vacancy – 3 months; (h) permanent retirement from residential use – 18 months and not before lease end; (i) tenant refuses reasonable changes to lease terms at renewal – 1 month; (k) condominium/cooperative conversion – 3 years and relocation rules. Several of these also require relocation assistance or advance government approval.
• If the owner does not actually move in (or the buyer does not) within a reasonable time, the tenant may sue for triple damages (N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.6).
• Double-check with the court: Seniors and disabled tenants have extra protections in condo/co-op conversions (Senior Citizens and Disabled Protected Tenancy Act).

For willful or grossly negligent damage to the property, and for certain criminal convictions or civil findings (drug offenses, assault or threats against the landlord, theft, human trafficking), the landlord serves a 3-day Notice to Quit. No Notice to Cease is required for these grounds and the tenant cannot cure.

• Drug, assault and theft grounds generally require a conviction, guilty plea, or civil finding – an arrest alone is not enough.
• A tenant may defend a drug-offense ground by showing the offender has completed or is in rehabilitation, or that the tenant did not know of the conduct (for household members).
• Disorderly conduct (noise, fighting, disturbing neighbors) is not in this category: it needs a Notice to Cease first, then a 3-day Notice to Quit.
• Termination of a superintendent/janitor's employment (ground m) also uses a 3-day notice.