Specialist · Jersey City, NJ · Member since 2018 · 4 posts · 0 votes
Hello everyone,
I am seeking some advice on submitting a small claims suit for a tenant that has not been paying Utilities for 12+ months. There are many other issues besides this one for this particular tenant (i.e. paying rent at almost midnight on the 5th every month, not cooperating, not being cleanly and damaging property, etc.). Based on some initial advice from my lawyer, he has advised that it may not be worth pursuing it (outside of small claims) according to NJ laws, since the judge may favor the tenant primarily because not paying for utilities (which are divided among multiple tenants) is not a major offense (legally) if utilities are being shared with other tenants and can not be exactly traced back to their own usage.
Any advice on the what the process would be for doing this or any other helpful advice would be much appreciated!
Investor · Lexington, SC · Member since 2018 · 779 posts · 501 votes
8y
@Tirthal P. I am not familiar with the landlord/tenant laws in NJ but my first suggestion would be to start the process of evicting the tenant if possible. It sounds like the person is more trouble than keeping them in the property.
I would also suggest that you simply drop the suit and just move on with this tenant. It will take too much of your time, energy, and head space to continue to pursue litigation, even in small claims court. You will likely not get anything out of the tenant even if you win the suit.
Another negative side effect from these types of suits is the negative impact in the community that you are litigious. Now don't get me wrong...I will file a suit if I feel there is a strong chance that I will win and can recoup from the tenant. However, in most cases it just breeds bad vibes in your community which could cause a negative impact that you are not expecting.
As always, be sure to consult your attorney prior to doing anything as this is mere educational advice.
If nobody as said it yet...welcome to BP! I see you are new.
Specialist · Jersey City, NJ · Member since 2018 · 4 posts · 0 votes
8y
Dan,
Thanks for your response and advice, much appreciated! Yes, I am new to BP and learning a lot.
As for the situation I have, I am looking to evict them, but that is a challenge as well (primarily since NJ is a tenant friendly state). But that is the end goal for me with this situation.