NYC VS NJ which is more landlord friendly?

Question

Hi everyone

I own a 2 family house in Queens, NYC.  I've had 2 evictions so far and need to go to civil court to try to recoup 5 months of rent and lawyers fees from the last one.

I am planning to sell and  move -just not sure where yet.  I am thinking of NJ because I think courts/laws are more favorable to landlords than NYC.   Am I correct?

I also want to flip properties, so also looking at the down payment of buying and repairing to flip a house.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

Moe Hirsch · Answer

@Sheila Gonzalez I am not a landlord, rather a cabinet wholesaler to landlords in the NYC/NJ area, the nightmares that I hear from the NYC landlords are much worse.

From what I hear as a landlord, you will have an easier time in NJ.

Alina Trigub · Answer

@Sheila Gonzalez

If you're serious about moving and can move out further, consider moving to one of the landlord friendly states: http://www.landlordstation.com/blog/top-landlord-friendly-states/

NJ is not landlord friendly and has a ton of rent control towns and other restrictions.

Best!

Jason Lee · Answer

Both have their cons. Aside from evictions, NJ is much more tenant friendly when it comes to lease renewals. In NJ, you must offer a renewal and any changes must be "reasonable" and rent increases can't be "unconscionable." In NY you don't have to offer a renewal and you can make whatever changes you want. This is for non-stabilized leases.

I'm not sure I'd ever move from NY to NJ because it might be more favorable to landlords. You might be better served reviewing your tenant screening process and seeing how you can more reliably secure better tenants.

If you're looking to flip then it could make sense to cash out in a high cost area like Queens, or you could perhaps tap the equity in that house to fund future flips.

Johann Jells · Answer

NJ will not tolerate nonpayment. If they do not show up at eviction court with the full late rent, they're out. There's none of the "he didn't fix this and that, and I saw a rat".  But other than nonpayment I think it's pretty difficult. And you must renew leases at a rent raise that a judge would not find "unconscionable".  Also, rent control varies greatly, from none to every rental even a SFH.

Umer M. Chaudhry · Answer

From what I heard about NYC, NJ seems better to me....  Its definitely not landlord friendly area though, but just comparatively.  Before Corona Virus, on SFR and Two families, it used to take 1.5-2 months to evict a tenant based on non payment.  Not sure about other reasons for eviction though.  However; recovering money afterwards is a whole other story...

Johann Jells · Answer

@Sheila Gonzalez  "Tenant friendly" really only becomes an issue if you've made a mistake in your renter. I've been here 22 years and have never had a serious problem with a tenant I chose. I've done very well here, beyond my wildest dreams!

Sheila Gonzalez · Answer

Hello everybody

Thank you everyone for your replies and advice.   I really appreciate it since I don't know anyone personally to ask these things.  Sorry I haven't responded in a while, work is really busy.

I wanted to clarify that I did think of moving to either Florida Arizona or Texas, but I need to stay in the Northeast

(near NYC) for work for now.   So NJ became my choice.

Since NJ is either as bad or almost as bad as NYC, how about flipping in NJ?  Or renting in Pennsylvania?  I want someplace to buy rentals or flips that's within driving distance.

Boris Portnov · Answer

NJ is also a tenant friendly state, and judges are inclined to give tenants more time to catch up on late rent. I'm in agreement you should reconsider your screening process if you've had to evict so frequently.

If your serious about relocating your business to Jersey we can speak about your goals. I'm an experienced landlord and also an investor agent with a steady pipeline of offmarket fixnflip and multi-family long term hold deals in Bergen County.

Gregory DeRosso · Answer

Jersey can be a nightmare depending on what town or municipality you're looking at. I've been looking at rental properties all though north Jersey and in just in reading ordinances and guidelines, it's no better than NYC. Honestly anywhere in the North East is going to be tenant biased.

On a side note, if your selling, I'm looking... :)

NYC VS NJ which is more landlord friendly?

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