is there a law that protects a tenant from eviction?

Question

i'm currently 9 months pregnant, and i live with my hubby and 4yr old son, we recently moved into an apartment that needed some fixing up-but the landlord said he would fix the things that needed to be fixed- he collected our rent and disappeared! nvr fixed anything and now his wife came from peru and is trying to charge us more rent and doesn't validate her husband's promises to fix anything in our apartment- now since my husband has paid the rent before and nothing got fixed he's holding on to the rent and won't pay it for all the obvious reasons... she actually took us to court to have us evicted- but the judge didn't hear our side of the story and just told us to pay the rent without even hearing our side of why we haven't paid the rent- especially since she was not the person we did business with in the first place! can anyone give us some legal advice as how to take her to court for negligence of landlord duties. thanks for ur time in reading this, please help.

we are in the state of new jersey

we have also had the misfortune of the landlord not wanting to give us receipts for the rents paid since august til now and the actually landlord avoids my husband and my landlord's wife is the one who is calling all shots with this situation! we never had intentions of not paying rent but- we are however tired being taken for suckers when we were promised things would be fixed!

we have a copy of the lease, it's signed by only the original landlord and my husband, it's notarized, we have faulty electric sockets, the electricity goes out every now and then, the sinks seem to be somewhat clogged, the bathtub faucet stays running and my side entrance is a hollow closet door that just isn't safe!

Answer 1

Every state landlord/ tenant laws different. I own apt buildings in two different states and closing escrow on another one within a few day. So I know landlord/ tenant issues.

I'm not a lawyer or paralegal but I know contract law and work with them all the time so I'm rather knowledgeable on lease laws.

From your question it sounds like you have no written agreement with your landlord. That is why the judge didn't here your side. It doesn't matter who you had rented the apt from originally.

Owners change property managers often but it doesn't change anything for the current tenants unless they resign the agreement.

Anything not in writing come down to his/her word against yours. Being he owns the property you have no legal standing to the property except as a renter.

I'm surprised the judge didn't tell your husband that and also that he was in violation of the law. A renter can not hold back rent to blackmail the landlord in fixing something. If that was the case every renter would do it for what they deemed needed fixing.

Now, if it was a safety issues electrical, plumbing and major leak, things like that and the landlord doens't fix it within a reasonable time. The word is reasonable and it isn't 10 min after reporting the problem.

One can have it fixed (hire a professional) an give the landlord or management company the bill. Then if they don't reemburse you, take them to court. But, you still have to pay the rent.

Sorry for your situation but there is nothing I or anyone can tell you to make it better.

But, I can give you some advice for the future.

1. Inspect the property your planning on renting. Just as you would a car, house anything your buying from an individual or company.

2. If it is major issues don't move in until it is fixed. One persons minor might be anothers major issue. Like covers over light fixtures minor but it looks bad. It is another thing NOT having covers over electrical switches that is a safety issue and should be considered major and done prior to moving in.

3.Get everything in Writing. Your word against anothers doesn't hole water in the court of law.
Some places court dates are booked up so far out because of so many cases that that judges only look at the relevent evidence and ask very few questions before deciding.

Last year I went to court as witness we were 5th. We were in front of the judge in less then two hours. Two before us were done in less then 10 minute. There were some real unhappy people but there wasn't anything to back up the evidence. Nothing in writing.

4. Most important thing, READ WHAT YOUR SIGNING BEFORE SIGNING. If you do not understand what is written ask or get legal advice from someone who knows legal contracts. Paralegal that know contracts are a lot cheaper then a lawyer.

Good luck.

Answer 2

You have to pay your rent. You can not with hold the rent just because they didn't fix things..UNLESS your lease specifically states that if they do not keep the apartment in livable condition that you may withhold rent..now the thing to remember is that in that situation, cosmetic faults are not valid reasons for withholding rent..so if the problem is that the carpet needs replaced, or the tile is ugly..things like that you can not withhold rent for..now if it's because the sink leaks, or the heat doesn't work, or there are things that are a safety hazard, you need to contact a lawyer immediately since they don't want to fix those things. You need to read your lease very very carefully. In some instances leases will specifically say that if something happens to any of the appliances YOU are responsible for fixing or replacing them..it is very very important that you get a copy of the lease you signed.
As far as charging more rent they can not up your rent without notifying you first, and if they are raising the rent then they need to do a new lease agreement with you
The law is different in every state so you need to speak to a lawyer in your state because they can tell you specifically what your rights are
It doesn't matter if this guys wife is who you did "business" with originally or not...she is his wife and has just as much right to do "business" with you as he does. The absolute most important thing you need to do is contact a lawyer!!

Answer 3

judges don't care whether you are pregnant or have a small child or have 10 children for that matter. you have to pay your rent or you will be evicted. now, if they have no fixed anything that you have asked them to fix repeatedly, you can refrain from paying your rent to them, and put it in escrow. that means you go to the courthouse and you pay the money to them, they place it in an escrow account until your court date and they then will have the burden of proving wether they fixed those problems or not. escrow means you are paying the court your rent and they hold it. in that instance you cannot be evicted for non payment of rent because you are paying it into an escrow account. once they fix the problems the court then releases the money to them. you must send them a certified letter(so you have a receipt that they got it) stating to them the problems in the apt you have been having, who you spoke with who said it would be fixed, how much time has lapsed, and give them a specified date to have those things fixed, and then tell them(in the letter) that if those items are not fixed by that date you will hold your rent in escrow. chances are, they will fix the problems to not have to go to court. good luck

Answer 4

Hopefully you have a copy of your lease. Usually tenants cannot hold monies in compromise for work not done. Do you have sort of rent receipts that stated you paid previous months and how long your lease is for and the amount of the money to paid by when. Also it should have it when items are to be fixed.

Answer 5

1. You have to pay your rent.
2. If you have problems getting maintenance performed, you can deal with that by going to court, the local housing authority or equivalent, or claiming breach of contract to get out of the lease. You can't just not pay your rent. Sorry. The way you should handle it is to break your lease due to breach of contract for not maintaining the rental.

Answer 6

First off I'm not a lawyer nor do I pretend to be.But I have heard that you can't evict a pregnant woman or a woman with a very small child.I don't know your money situation but you should go and talk to a lawyer.There are also probono lawyers that you could look into.Hope you can get the help you need.

Answer 7

unfortunately the court that has jurisdiction over tenant landlord problems is landlord/tenant court special civil if you have already been in front of the judge and the judge has issued his ruling it will be hard to go back in front of him to argue the same facts again

can try like a state agency like consumer affairs or something

Answer 8

do no longer call a cop. cops are actually not shifting companies. Did she evict him via court technique, or in basic terms tell him to get out of the domicile? there's a popular of care, and a quantity of time earlier property are seen deserted. you do no longer say the place you reside, so i would be unable to grant specifics. tell him to deliver an approved letter detailing the property, and pointing out which day and hours he would be there to eliminate them. He desires to do it rapidly nonetheless, with the aid of fact some states in basic terms enable some days. tell him to put in the letter that if there's a topic with that date, she would desire to grant him X quantity of observe. it is greater so he could have a efficient small claims action if he has to bypass after her for the two his issues, or for the cost of his issues.

Answer 9

I can help you, although, not legal advice, I was a landlord and a tenant in the state of New Jersey, specifically in Ocean County. As alandlord, I had to comply with all state and local ordinances. I had to obtain a C/O every year, or every change of tenants. They had to come and inspect the GFI's and smoke detectors and eventually this also included the carbon monoxide detectors also. My lease required tenants to notify me writing IMMEDIATELY of any safety or hazardous conditions, but they were welcome to call me ANYTIME for any thing that wasn't working properly (I preferred or fix $2 problems instead of waiting till they were $2000 to fix. Rent was usually paid in cash, and I gave a reciept. I had tenants that paid by check, and I had no problem with checks, but if they bounced, that was it, strictly cash from there on out, but I would give reciepts. I only had one tenant who ever refused to pay her rent, she didn't escrow, she didn't do anything she was supposed to do, and the judge practically threw her out of court. I had documentation showing she had caused the troubles she was claiming, showed I had my certs, had pictures of what it looked like BEFORE she moved and what it looked like while she was living there. You need a copy of New Jersey Tenant/Landlord Rights and Responsibilities to tell you what EXACTLY you can expect. If the landlord said prior to you moving in he was going to paint the outside of the house and didn't, good luck, no court will enforce it. If he said he would replace a door that closes and locks, and doesn't well, its sleazy, but is it illegal? Call your town and ask what they require for an outside entrance door to be made of and what kind of locks (My town required a solid core door for entrance and deadbolt locks that could be opened from the inside of the home with no keys (in case there was a fire, a child wouldn't have to hunt for keys Mom had somewhere). I had to have a C/O and I had to comply with the housing authority. I NEVER had a violation, but once in a while, I'd have to prove I was in compliance, by having an inspection, and I get a cert saying I was in compliance. My tenant tried to say I wasn't but I had all my documentation. She had her son, (his girlfriend and their baby were not on the lease, but they tried to stop the eviction based on them. The judge did not allow it, as they had not made a reasonable effort to show cause, he could see they were just trying to get over, and they blamed me for problems they themselves had caused. Since I wasn't a slumlord, I did feel bad about the girlfriend and the baby, but they had not included them on the lease, as residents, which I required anyone living in the home to be listed (my town also had a limit of how many people could live in how many bedrooms, so they lost. You have many avenues if your landlord is failing to meet health and safety violations. No GFI's, no smoke detectors, no carbon monoxide detectors, mold, heating issues, and so on can put a landlord in violation. Call your local housing authority and have them come to the house to document the conditions. Do no pay your landlord in cash, use a check. Even if his wife comes, staple the check to a letter advising her of the repairs that need to be done, send a registered and certified letter to your landlord and also by regular mail with your return address, so if he doesn't pick it up, it will come back. Take lots of pictures, make sure they actually show what you are talking about, be prepared for court by showing you put the money you owed into escrow, you made requests for repairs and now you are doing your best to insure he does them by withholding rent, your last recourse to correct a problem. I would advise you to have another apartment lined up, as it sounds like you are about to deliver any day, and if the place is so awful, how do you explain your bringing your newborn to a hovel? Just because he won't fix something, even if he promised, unless its a danger, you may not have much of a leg to stand on if he or his wife can show you thought it was good enough to put yourself and your newborn in. After all, not many of us would stay, as reasonable people, being a good tenant, even if the place were free, if we or our chilldren were in danger. The judge may have thought you were jerking the landlord around, and you must prove what you are claiming. Good luck to you, hope this helps!