Does a counter claim stop an eviction for non payment of rent? In NJ (and most other states), when a landlord attempts to evict a tenant due to non payment of rent, the tenant can raise the defense that the landlord did not properly upkeep the premises and use this to offset from the amount of rent owed. Can the tenant also raise a defense that the landlord owes the tenant money for some other reason? For example, the tenant mistakenly overpaid for certain months or that the tenant paid multiple security deposits? What if the landlord owes the tenant money for an entirely different reason that isn't directly related to their LT relationship (such as a overdue loan payment etc.)? For the purpose of this question, assume the landlord does not dispute the tenants underlying claim. His only argument is that the tenant should counter-sue and that it should not be raised as a defense for non payment / stop the eviction. This question is different than the question asked here, because that question doesn't specifically ask whether it would stop an eviction. It merely ask whether it is classified as a counterclaim or not. In this question, I am specifically asking whether a claim such as the above is sufficient to stop an eviction for non payment of rent.
Often, evictions are bifurcated. An initial hearing determines all evidence necessary to determine if there is a default existing sufficient to justify an eviction, and if so, the eviction goes forward immediately despite the fact that not all issues in the case have been resolved. A later hearing resolved the precise dollar amount of any damages claim. If the grounds for eviction is non-payment of rent, and the amount of payments or the amount of obligations of the landlord that can be setoff against the rent due exceeds the amount of rent found to have not be paid, then it is a defense to an eviction in the initial possession phase. If the counterclaim is smaller than the amount of rent owed (or cannot for some reason be set off against the amount owed) then it is only at most, a setoff against a damages award in favor of the landlord. I'm have not researched, in particular, how this is handled in New Jersey, but I am providing this answer on the theory that some insight is better than nothing. For the purpose of this question assume the landlord does not dispute the tenants underlying claim. His only argument is that the tenant should counter sue and that it should not be raised as a defense for non payment / stop the eviction. If this is true, it is both an affirmative defense to the eviction claim and a basis for a counterclaim in most cases. The better practice would be to raise it both ways in the same lawsuit. But, if the counterclaim is not sufficient to overcome the claim that rent is owed and not paid in full, or triggers some other different alternative ground for an eviction (e.g., maybe the lease provides that application of a security deposit against rent owed is itself an event of default), then that wouldn't prevent an eviction.
In general, and in particular in New Jersey, a new owner takes possession subject to existing rental agreements, and in particular subject to existing leases, unless there is a provision in the lease to the contrary. This happens automatically, by law. Thus any lease is as enforceable against the new owner as it would have been against the old. But how enforceable is this arbitration agreement? How enforceable would it have been against the old owner O? The basic fact about a month-to-month tenancy is that either party may end it on one month's notice, for any reason or none. Moreover, when a new owner intds to occupy the premises personally, or use them for his or her family, the requirement to honor a previous lease is, in general, not applicable. T might be able to force N to go through arbitration, depending on the wording of the agreement, and on whether the written lease applies at all after the end of the first year (which it may well not). But on the facts as stated in the question, T would lose in arbitration as well as in court, and if there is any increased expense because of the arbitration, T would be obliged tom pay it. Let us look at the actual NJ law N.J.S.A. 2A:18-53 provides that: any lessee or tenant at will or at sufferance, or for a part of a year, or for one or more years, of any houses, buildings, lands or tenements, ... may be removed from such premises by the Superior Court, Law Division, Special Civil Part in an action in the following cases: a. Where such person holds over and continues in possession of all or any part of the demised premises after the expiration of his term, and after demand made and written notice given by the landlord or his agent, for delivery of possession thereof. The notice shall be served either personally upon the tenant or such person in possession by giving him a copy thereof or by leaving a copy of the same at his usual place of abode with a member of his family above the age of 14 years. [emphasis added] Section 2A:18-56 provides that: No judgment for possession in cases specified in paragraph &quot;a.&quot; of section 2A:18-53 of this Title shall be ordered unless: a. The tenancy, if a tenancy at will or from year to year, has been terminated by the giving of 3 months' notice to quit, which notice shall be deemed to be sufficient; or ? b. The tenancy, if a tenancy from month to month, has been terminated by the giving of 1 month's notice to quit, which notice shall be deemed to be sufficient; [emphasis added] Section 2A:18-57 provides that: If no sufficient cause is shown to the contrary when the action comes on for trial, the court shall issue its warrant to any officer of the court, commanding him to remove all persons from the premises, and to put the claimant into full possession thereof, and to levy and make the costs out of the goods and chattels of the person in possession. No warrant of removal shall issue until the expiration of 3 days after entry of judgment for possession, except as provided for in chapter 42 of this Title. Section 2A:18-61.1 provides that: No lessee or tenant or the assigns, under-tenants or legal representatives of such lessee or tenant may be removed by the Superior Court from any house, building, mobile home or land in a mobile home park or tenement leased for residential purposes, other than (1) owner-occupied premises with not more than two rental units or a hotel, motel or other guesthouse or part thereof rented to a transient guest or seasonal tenant; ... except upon establishment of one of the following grounds as good cause ... [emphasis in original] h. The owner seeks to retire permanently the residential building or the mobile home park from residential use or use as a mobile home park But note that good cause is not required for an owner-occupied dwelling with no more than two rental units. T would be wise to consult a lawyer knowledgeable about landlord/tenant law in NJ before attempting to contest the notice or eviction.
Can the seller enter a formal agreement with the tenants in which the seller pays a sum of money and in return the tenants vacate the premises before the closing date, and would such agreement hold over the tenants legal right to remain on premises past the closing date? Maybe. It depends on tenancy law in Nova Scotia. Notwithstanding, given that the tenants are “difficult”, what are your plans if they take the cash and don’t move out? What happens if the sale goes though under the assumption that the tenants have left, and in fact the tenants are still occupying the premises? Why would the buyer settle under an “assumption”? At the time of settlement either the tenants have left (so settlement happens) or the haven’t (so the vendor is in breach, settlement doesn’t happen and the buyer decides whether to rescind the contract and claim damages or affirm the contract and claim damages). What guarantees and proofs can the buyer demand as to the vacant status of the property? They take the keys and walk into it. What other questions should the buyer be asking? They should be asking: “Will you be in a position to fulfil your obligations under the contract?”
Most leases have a provision allowing a landlord to make entry without notice in an emergency, but the better course of action, as noted in a comment by @BlueDogRanch, is to call the police and ask them to make a &quot;welfare check.&quot; You would ordinarily be permitted to cooperate with police by unlocking doors in furtherance of their welfare check. The police are trained to do this properly in a way that properly balances the need to aid someone who is sick or ill, the need to preserve evidence if there was a death or crime that needs to be understood legally, and to protect the legitimate privacy interests of the tenant. You are not. You could incur liability for failing to prevent death or aggravating injury, could be wrongfully implicated if physical evidence from you contaminates the scene or you destroy evidence showing the true cause, and could be sued for invading the tenant's privacy if it was found that you entry was unreasonable and that it wasn't really an emergency, which is always easier to conclude with 20/20 hindsight. As it is, your biggest potential source of liability is delaying in calling the police seeking a welfare check. They often respond quite quickly to these by the way, although it is not the very highest priority for law enforcement.
This is a very difficult situation. Discrimination is not the right frame within which to view this as your roommate doesn't have authority over you the way that an employer or landlord would. The basic legal issue would be whether your roommate is constructively evicting you from you residence without valid justification for doing so. And, the answer might very well be yes. But, even if that is the case, since the roommate is not an agent of the landlord, your roommate's actions probably don't relieve you from your duties under the lease. So, your relief might be to vacate the premises and then to sue the roommate for the rent you have to pay without receiving anything in return. This is expensive relative to the likely returns, and there is no certainty that you would win or that you would get your attorneys' fees if you prevailed. This would also be a slow solution taking several months at a minimum. Or, in the alternative, you could leave and cease paying the rent, forcing the roommates who remain to pay it if they don't want to be evicted as they are probably jointly and severally liable for the rent. (If they sued you for your share of the rent, constructive eviction by one of them would probably be a good defense.) The landlord could sue all of the roommates if they don't pay, causing them to be evicted and you to be on the hook for any rent or other amounts that they owe, including the landlord's attorneys' fees (and hurting your credit). You could probably cross-claim for indemnification of any amounts you were required to pay in that lawsuit against your roommate. But, this too would be an expensive, complex and slow solution if the remaining roommates don't decide to simply keep paying the rent. It would be very hard for you to evict your problem roommate for breaching the lease by denying you your equal rights to the premises, since you are not the landlord, although it isn't impossible that a court would allow this relief and it would be relatively quick. It would also leave open the question of who was responsible for the evicted roommate's rent. The remaining roommates would be liable vis-a-vis the landlord, and would face eviction if they don't pay, and probably couldn't get a new roommate without the landlord's permission. And, the evicted tenant would probably remain on the hook vis-a-vis the landlord, but might not have a duty to indemnify the roommates who stayed. Also, in any lawsuit where you sue the roommate, the roommate would likely counterclaim against you for non-disclosure of HSV2, and while that would probably not prevail in the end, it would make the legal process hellish for you. The trouble is that there are really no good solutions that you could easily impose on them. A mutual agreement between the landlord and the other tenants to release you from the lease so you could find somewhere else, or to release the problem tenant from the lease so that you and your other roommate could replace that person, is probably the best solution, but that takes mutual agreement of multiple parties.
The landlord might be able to sue the tenant for actual damages arising from the double occupancy, if utilities are paid by the landlord. Two people tend to use more water than one person. Establishing that there has been any loss would be tricky, but let's assume that there is evidence pointing to some dollar figure. Then the landlord might sue the tenant for causing this damage.
Being Evicted Is Not A Crime It is not a crime to be evicted. So, you will not get a criminal record if you fail to pay your rent and are evicted. Failing to pay rent is merely a breach of contract, and eviction is a remedy for this breach of contract. Damage To Your Credit Rating Being evicted will absolutely hurt your credit rating, however. In the U.S., a bad credit rating can be considered by prospective employers and for many other purposes (e.g. as grounds to charge you higher insurance premiums, or to refuse to rent property to you, or to refuse to extend you credit). I am not familiar with all of the purposes for which a credit rating may be legally used in the U.K. and that would probably need to be the subject of a separate question in any case. At a minimum, a bad credit rating makes it harder to get loans in the future. For example, an eviction could result in your application for a mortgage when you want to buy a house being denied, or could cause you to pay a much higher interest rate on a car loan. Other Negative Consequences Of An Eviction There are other negative consequences of being evicted in addition to harm to your credit rating, which may seem obvious but also bear mentioning. These consequences are all very good reasons to voluntarily leave the premises from which your landlord is trying to evict you and to move to a new residence of some kind before a court order evicting you is carried out if it is at all possible to do so. Homelessness First, if you don't have a place to live immediately, when you are evicted, you become homeless and being homeless is not a good thing. The U.K. has a decent safety net, so eventually you may be able to find public housing if you are evicted, but that often doesn't happen immediately, and in the meantime, you are literally on the street. Even if you can't find any place else that you can afford to rent, you can try to find friends and family that can take you in temporarily, attempt to locate places you can legally camp for a while, and can save up enough money to pay for a motel for a few days at least while you are looking for alternative places to live. Your Stuff Is Tossed On The Street Second, if your stuff is in the property you are being evicted from, then when you are evicted, your stuff will be tossed out on the street and in all likelihood it will be damaged or stolen or otherwise lost. Among the things that can be lost or damaged in an eviction are documents that you need which are hard to replace like birth certificates, passports, professional licenses, college applications, report cards for children, health records, financial records, family photos, immigration documents, etc. Even if you can't afford to rent a new place, you can avoid this harm to your property by putting as much of it as you can in a storage unit. At a minimum, try to find some place (maybe friends or family or work) where you can store your most valuable property before you are evicted. Lost Security Deposits And Money Damages Third, if you are evicted, you will almost certainly lose your security deposit and will probably also have a money judgment entered against you by the landlord for any amounts owed to the landlord for damage to the property, back rent, late fees, interest, lost rent while the property is rerented, attorneys' fees, court costs, etc. to the extent that it exceeds the security deposit which it usually will. This money judgment will further hurt your credit rating and could cause your wages and bank accounts to be garnished and your cars and/or other personal property to be seized to collect this debt. Usually people are evicted because they can't afford to pay rent, so there are limits to what you can do to prevent this, but at a minimum, try not to damage the premises which can result in additional amounts owed. Disruption Of Postal Service Fourth, until you can get change of address arrangements made, you will not receive any postal service, including bills you owe on loans and credit cards (or even worse, demands to respond to small claims court lawsuits up to 100,000 pounds). Failing to pay these bills or to respond to notices can lead to more damage to your credit, late payment penalties, default judgments in court cases, and other problems like disrupted efforts to apply to universities or to meet requirements to obtain scholarships. You can avoid this by obtaining a post office box and redirecting your mail there before you vacate the premises.
You need absolute written buy in from the landlord. His agreement is with you, not this new person. If the new person stops paying for whatever reason, then landlord is coming after you.