Im a commercial tenant and have been holding rent from my landlord who has not done his job. can i be evicted?
Peter asked:
I have owned a preschool, going on, five years now. I have had constant issues with the leaking in the roof, that has lead to much damage, including lose of customers. I have asked multiple times for my landlord to fix this problem, but it has either been ignored or done so of such poor quality that the issue is still a major problem.
I faced a law suite because of this due to the sealing tiles collapsing and water pouring on one of the children.
With my lose of business and law suite due to this issue it has made it hard for me to pay the rent, though i as well feel i should not have to pay the full amount.
Besides this there are many other issues that the landlord chooses not to tend to, as is said to be his responsibility in the lease.
I took it upon myself, though after many written letters, to lower my rent money. I feel as though it is not my responsibility or problem and why should I pay for full rent when I am not getting the quality I deserve.
I am now facing eviction and NEED to know if there is anything I can do to save my business before it is to late. Please can someone help me with this? I need to know what my rights are as a tenant in the state of new jersey, and what i can do to stop this eviction from going through.
Do i have any rights?!
I have owned a preschool, going on, five years now. I have had constant issues with the leaking in the roof, that has lead to much damage, including lose of customers. I have asked multiple times for my landlord to fix this problem, but it has either been ignored or done so of such poor quality that the issue is still a major problem.
I faced a law suite because of this due to the sealing tiles collapsing and water pouring on one of the children.
With my lose of business and law suite due to this issue it has made it hard for me to pay the rent, though i as well feel i should not have to pay the full amount.
Besides this there are many other issues that the landlord chooses not to tend to, as is said to be his responsibility in the lease.
I took it upon myself, though after many written letters, to lower my rent money. I feel as though it is not my responsibility or problem and why should I pay for full rent when I am not getting the quality I deserve.
I am now facing eviction and NEED to know if there is anything I can do to save my business before it is to late. Please can someone help me with this? I need to know what my rights are as a tenant in the state of new jersey, and what i can do to stop this eviction from going through.
Do i have any rights?!
August 12, 2009 at 1:11 PM
August 15, 2009 at 8:12 AMrwa000
if you don’t pay you can be evicted, your reasons are not legal in court
#148
August 18, 2009 at 7:25 PMBrother Otter
Yes you can be evicted if you do not pay rent. Even if the property owner has breached contract by failing to maintain the building, that does not mean you can do it too. Two wrongs do not cancel out.
What you should have done was taken the landlord to task instead of playing ‘judge’ yourself.
#149
August 22, 2009 at 1:31 AMRandall Parker, MBA
You have not handled this properly, and you are not improving your situation by your actions.
What you need to do is send a letter to your landlord stating the repairs that are necessary, an estimate of the costs of the repairs, and give the landlord thirty (30) days to begin work on the repairs or to provide information on when such work will commence.
If the landlord does not make any effort to commence the repairs, you should begin depositing your rental payments into an escrow account, until such time as the repairs are completed. If the landlord continues to ignore your repairs, then you should obtain three estimates for the repairs, provide copies to the landlord, along with a statement that in the absence of any action by the landlord to take care of these repairs, that the money accumulated in escrow will be used to complete the repairs, with the balance of any rental payments forwarded to him after completion.
In this manner, the landlord may not charge you late fees or interest for late rent, nor may you be successfully evicted, because you have not violated your agreement to pay rent. You also put the landlord on notice of the repairs and allow time to respond.
All of this assumes, of course, that your rental agreement holds your landlord responsible for these repairs. If you are, in fact, responsible for the repairs, due to a triple-net lease, then you have no leg on which to stand, and you have a big problem.
See an attorney, and please, do not let this information take the place of legal advice. If you need additional help, contact National Consumer Rights Alliance for assistance. Even though yours is a business operation, they can provide legal assistance and referral to counsel in your area through their nationwide attorney network.
I wish you luck, and I hope you are able to resolve this without causing permanent harm to your business or your reputation. Good luck!
#150
August 24, 2009 at 12:43 PMreenzz
Every state has laws that require certain procedures you must take before you decide to withhold or lower your rent. If you didn’t’ follow the laws for you state, then you can be evicted.
#151
August 27, 2009 at 1:53 PMLandlord
Wow, no of course not. You not only decided you were going to be the judge in your own breach of contract case, but you would write up your own ruling and enforce it too.
You did not have the right to do any of this without a court order. You can only stop the eviction if you pay everything you owe and the landlord agrees to let you stay.
I personally would tell you to kiss my — , there is no way I would let someone stay who thought they were above the law.
#152