NOTICE TO CEASE
Where a Notice to Cease is required, it should
include as much detail as possible. This serves the
dual purpose of putting the tenant on notice of a
statutory (or lease) violation, and allows the
tenant an opportunity to "cure" the
alleged violation. If the tenant ceases the
described wrongful conduct, a landlord may not
proceed to terminate the tenancy. It is, in
effect, a warning notice. By statute, the notice
must be served upon the tenant or person in
possession either personally at the demised
premises, or by leaving it at "his usual place
of living with a member of his family above the age
of 14 or by certified mail; if the certified letter
is not claimed, notice shall be sent by regular
mail." (See N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.2 above.)
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We suggest that you notice the tenant each method:
The notice should be hand delivered to the
demised premises
Copies sent via certified mail return
receipt requested
Regular mail
In addition, the person making the personal
delivery should fill out a simple
"Certification of Service" form (copy
follows) for the file in the event of trial.
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The worst thing that can happen to a landlord's
case on the day of trial is to get "shot
down" for failure to notice. If the notices are
not correct (legally sufficient) or not properly
served, the court must dismiss the landlord's
case. A defective notice or defective service is
a jurisdictional defect. If a jurisdictional defect
exists, the court must dismiss a plaintiff's
case.
It is important to stress that the acts
complained of must be explained clearly and in
detail. Remember N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.2 says,
"The notice in each of the foregoing instances
shall specify in detail the cause of the termination
of the tenancy…" The notice may not contain
conflicting information.
NOTICE TO QUIT
A Notice to Quit terminates the tenancy. If the
tenant fails to cease the acts complained of in the
Notice to Cease, after a reasonable period of time
to cure has elapsed, or the statute does not require
a cease notice, a landlord may serve a Notice to
Quit for the statutory violation. Many landlords are
under the mistaken impression that they must wait 30
days after serving a Notice to Cease before serving
a Notice to Quit. Wrong. All that must elapse is a
"reasonable" period of time and what is
reasonable has to be determined on a case by case
basis. I am unaware of any case where a landlords
claim was dismissed due to service of a Notice to
Quit too soon after the service of a Cease. You will
see on the following form that the Notice to Quit
also contains a paragraph called "Demand for
Possession." A written demand for possession is
required in all cases except for nonpayment of rent.
If this language is lacking, the court will lack
jurisdiction to hear the case. A Notice to Quit is
generally served in the same manner as the Notice to
Cease.
NON-PAYMENT OF RENT
If a tenant fails to pay "rent" when due,
a landlord may immediately proceed to commence a
summary proceeding to regain possession of the
premises. A landlord is under no obligation to wait
for its rent, accept payments late, or accept rent
in installments. However, if on the "return
day" (day of court) the tenant appears and is
prepared to pay all "rent" which is due,
the landlord must accept the tender and dismiss the
case. N.J.S.A. 2A:18-55 provides:
N.J.S.A. 2A:18-55. Discontinuance upon payment
into court of rent in arrears; receipt
If, in actions instituted under paragraph
"b" of section 2A:18-53 of this title, the
tenant or person in possession of the demised
premises shall at any time on or before entry of
final judgment, pay to the clerk of the court the
rent claimed to be in default, together with the
accrued costs of the proceedings, all proceedings
shall be stopped. The receipt of the clerk shall be
evidence of such payment. The clerk shall forthwith
pay all moneys so received to the landlord, his
agent or assigns.
(Case Law has held
this statute is applicable to proceedings under the
Anti-Eviction Act as well. (N.J.S.A.
2A:18-61.1.))
I have put
"rent" in quotes in the preceding text
because it is technically a legal term that should
be defined. In a broad sense, it is the compensation
or fee paid, usually periodically, for the use of
any property, land, equipment or building. However,
if a tenant agrees that certain charges constitute
"additional" rent (i.e. utilities,
damages, late fees) a court will likely enforce the
agreement if it does not conflict with any statute,
rule, regulation or ordinance such as rent control
or U.S. Dept. of Housing & Urban Development
regulations ("H.U.D.").
Like almost any rule,
there is an exception to the "no notice
rule" for non-payment of rent cases. When
filing a non-payment of rent case against tenants
receiving (1) social security old age pensions, (2)
railroad retirement pensions and (3) other
government pensions, these tenants are afforded a 5
day grace period to pay their rent, presumably
because their checks are sent to them on or about
the first day of each month. (copy of the statute
appears supra.) Likewise, tenants who participate in
a H.U.D. subsidy program are entitled to the
additional protection of federal laws that require a
written notice be served upon the tenant prior to
the filing of any action for eviction.
Also see: The
New Jersey Landlord Registration Act
Important in Evictions
Other Landlord Tenant
Resources Include:
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