by Cyndi Li

Created on: November 19, 2011   Last Updated: November 20, 2011

Understanding what your rights and obligations are if you are a tenant or a landlord in New Jersey is crucial to the protection of your best interests. Never take what someone else tells you about New Jersey tenant landlord laws as truth until you’ve checked it out for yourself. Here’s a brief overview of New Jersey tenant landlord laws to get you started, although you are encouraged to familiarize yourself with New Jersey rental laws in their entirety.

The Lease Agreement

A lease agreement in New Jersey can be either written or oral. Although both are legal, only a written agreement can be enforced in a court of law. This is why you should shy away from an oral agreement whether you’re a landlord or a tenant. 

A lease agreement cannot contain language that requires either party to forgo their rights under federal, state or local laws. 

Like all other states, New Jersey landlords may not discriminate against any tenants or applicants because of their race, nation of origin, sex, creed, age, disability, marital or family status.

The Security Deposit

A landlord in New Jersey has a right to collect a security deposit from a tenant at the beginning of the lease.

The security deposit must be placed in an interest-bearing account in a New Jersey bank or savings and loan association. The landlord must provide to the tenant written notification of where the money is deposited within 30 days of receipt of the money.

A landlord in New Jersey may not charge a security deposit that is more than 1 ½ months’ rent.

The security deposit must be returned to the tenant within 30 days upon completion of the lease or when they vacate the rental property.

The landlord has a right to withhold all or some of a security deposit as reimbursement for damages to the rental property that was caused by the tenant or the guests of the tenant. He or she may also withhold the security deposit as payment toward any unpaid rent that is due and owed to them. The landlord must provide the vacating tenant with written notification of why any or all of the security deposit is being withheld.

A tenant may sue a landlord in a New Jersey court if he or she disagrees with the landlord’s decision to withhold any part of their security deposit.

A landlord has a right to sue a vacating tenant if the security deposit does not cover all of any necessary repairs or any unpaid rent.

Evictions

A landlord may evict a tenant for a number of reasons that include but are not limited to being a disorderly tenant, damage to the rental property, whether willfully or through negligence, by the tenant or the tenant’s guests, violation of the rules and regulations set for in the lease agreement, habitual late payment of rent or failure to pay rent after the landlord has imposed a rent increase.

This overview of New Jersey tenant landlord laws only touches on some of these laws. Contact your local government agencies to obtain an all-inclusive accounting of what the laws are, and protect your interests. No one else is going to do it for you. 

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