My question involves an eviction in the state of: NJ
I have been researching an eviction matter, and have come up with no specific answers regarding our eviction situation.
My wife has a 6-month lease (which is noted on the lease as being seasonal). I looked up Jersey legal definition to seasonal rental and it notes seasonal is no more than 125-days, otherwise it is a standard rental.
That is not our main problem. We moved in November 22nd and have been late once before on rent since the money order was lost in the mail. Later we sent a replacement to take care of it. We were on a weekly rent payment agreement until January 1st, which should technically be Jan. 3rd to complete the 6th week of tenancy.
The way my wife's payday schedule is, fast forward to this month, it would not have been possible to pay a full months rent until Jan. 7th. The lease states that if rent is more than 10-days past due, eviction proceedings can commence.
My wife worked doubles Friday the 7th, and never had the opportunity to cash her paycheck that Friday and was planning on contacting the landlord that Saturday after she got some rest. Saturday morning she woke up to a phone call that her mother was in the hospital and they were unsure if she was going to pull through. The hospital is over an hour away, and what rent money she did have was quickly eaten up in gas due to multiple trips to the hospital over the weekend and part of the week.
It had also caused my wife a good amount of lost work since she missed 5 scheduled shifts.
Fast forward to last week, my wife also came down with an illness 2-days after her mother was released from the hospital. As a result she missed more work and was also admitted to the ER on Sunday and been ordered to not work for 3-days.
Being sick, she did not respond to the landlord's multiple text messages and phone calls. She could barely move and barely talk.
Monday evening (last night), the landlord stopped by with a 3-day notice in hand for my wife to sign. The landlord also brought her brother, her wife and a police officer with, which from what I understand, under Jersey law a 3-day notice is not required, in fact, no notice is required to start eviction proceedings until a court date is set.
To top it off, the landlord had a very nasty attitude and made verbal threats the whole time she was at our home in front of the officer. She attempted to force her way into the house, however the officer said she had to have my wife's permission to enter, which she gave in (not feeling well, she didn't want to argue), and allowed the landlord in to look around the house.
When she came in, she complained of the smell of cigarette smoke (my wife had a cigarette in her hand), and said she was going to throw us out for smoking in the house and that it's a violation of the lease. There was never a verbal agreement or anything in the lease that states we cannot smoke inside. There was also damage to the door that she noticed, which we had planned on fixing but have not gotten around to.
Also, a few weeks ago, our landlord told us she was planning on selling the house and that we must comply with her realtor by appointment to show the house, which I find to be a big inconvenience. I have found at least a few sites that the home has been listed for sale in the last week or so. It specifically states in the lease agreement "Landlord reserves the right during the last 60 days of the lease period to offer the property for sale or lease and to make appointments with the current tenant for the showing of the property. All appointments would be during normal business hours. IF THE PROPERTY IS FOR SALE DURING THE TERM OF THIS LEASE, SEE ATTACHED ADDENDUM."
Which there is no attached addendum.
My initial question, is the landlord in violation of the lease already since she has the home listed for sale? Our lease does not expire until May 20th. The 60-days noted in the lease doesn't come up until March 21st.

