Landlord Wants Me Out, I Need 5 More Months to Stay

Hello, I live in New Jersey, USA. I rent a room from a person, his name is J.A.. J.A. rents this apartment from the landlord. J.A. and I have verbal agreement that he rents the room to me. We don't have anything in writing except I have an email from J.A. saying that he has received $500 from me as a deposit at the beginning of my stay here. At the beginning J.A. and I didn't talk about the length of the stay. it was left open. Landlord knows I moved in as a roommate and was ok with me moving in.

Now, J.A. has given me 45 day verbal notice to move out of the room, so that 4 of J.A.'s friends can come in to live in with J.A.. However, I need to stay here additional 5 months, due to the plans i have made when I moved in. I am always on time paying my portion of the rent. Can I stay in this room another 5 months even though he wants me to get out in 45 days? Can he change the locks and call police if i don't leave at the end of the 45 days?

Please only answer if you have solid knowledge about the problem here. Please don't answer based on common sense. Thank you and god bless.

He only needs to give you 30 days notice to vacate.

Without a definite lease length agreed upon in advance, you are a month to month tenant.

In the state of New Jersey, the landlord (JA is your landlord) is required by law to give you 30 days notice that the tenancy is being terminated.

Your landlord is generously giving you 45 days. If you do not vacate the premises at the end of that 45 days, he can avail himself of formal eviction proceedings and have you forcibly removed.

You have no legal right to continue living there once the notice period concludes.

I believe the above to be incorrect, NJ is a "for cause" eviction only state, and the Landlord wanting to rent to his friend is not a valid cause.

See this thread.
http://www.thelpa.com/lpa/forum/disp...?mv_arg=142530

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Quoting Viper_nj

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I believe the above to be incorrect, NJ is a "for cause" eviction only state, and the Landlord wanting to rent to his friend is not a valid cause.

See this thread.
http://www.thelpa.com/lpa/forum/disp...?mv_arg=142530

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I believe you should re-read your own link..... you do not need a cause to not renew or end a month to month lease which is quite clearly the arrangement OP has.

Missy is correct.

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I believe the above to be incorrect, NJ is a "for cause" eviction only state

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Only in the case of a specified lease term.

Our OP is a tenant at will - a month to month tenant whose tenancy can be terminated for any reason or no reason at all with 30 days notice.

well, actually missy is correct but I believe by accident. NJ does require cause to evict even a month to month tenant but there are exceptions to the requirement which I believe the OP falls within. N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1


but even in the cases where the law applies, it is easy to manufacture a reason within the law.

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NJ does require cause to evict even a month to month tenant

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Er...he's not being evicted. His tenancy is being terminated (monthly lease is not being renewed - N.J.S.A. 2A:18-56), which is different from eviction proceedings.

Should he choose to hold over after the end of the notice period, his landlord would indeed have cause for eviction. The State of New Jersey does not require that landlords renew the lease.

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Quoting LawResearcherMissy

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Er...he's not being evicted. His tenancy is being terminated (monthly lease is not being renewed - N.J.S.A. 2A:18-56), which is different from eviction proceedings.

Should he choose to hold over after the end of the notice period, his landlord would indeed have cause for eviction. The State of New Jersey does not require that landlords renew the lease.

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rather than arguing about something that doesn't even apply to the OP (regardless of whether or not I disagree with you due to the NJ anti-eviction act), how about we stick with the subject at hand:


as it stands, there is no justification for an eviction. The LL has not provided proper notice.

In addition to that, it appears that the situation itself may be illegal and the LL subject to myriad penalties for operating a rooming house without a permit or license.

Oh, and speaking of rooming houses, we do have this:

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§ 5:27-3.3. Harassment; fraud; eviction without due cause
(a) No licensee or employee or agent of a licensee shall engage in any conduct or permit residents
or others to engage in any conduct, which is unreasonable under the circumstances and
which tends to cause annoyance to any resident.
(b) No licensee or employee or agent of a licensee shall, in the course of his dealings with residents
or with their property, engage in any conduct evidencing a lack of probity, integrity or trustworthiness.
(c) Unless otherwise directed or authorized by the Bureau no licensee shall cause any resident to
be evicted from any rooming or boarding house except for good cause, as defined in N.J.S.A.
2A:18-61.1 et seq., and except in accordance with the procedural requirements of N.J.S.A. 2A:18-
61.1 et seq.
1. A licensee may bring to the attention of the Bureau any situation in which the licensee believes
that a directive from the Bureau, pursuant to this subsection, is necessary in order to facilitate appropriate
placement of a resident, in accordance with N.J.A.C. 5:27-3.5(b), and to protect the right
of all residents to a safe, healthful and decent living environment, in accordance with N.J.A.C.
5:27-3.1(a)12.

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and here is 2A:18-61.1

I wasn't confusing eviction and lease termination. See NJ 2A:18-61.3, a landlord has to have valid cause to evict in order to refuse to renew a lease.

All that aside, I agree with jk that the entire situation is likely illegal, and the landlord would be in world of hurt if he tried to evict.