Failure To Pay Rent - A Landlord's Worst (And Most Common) Nightmare
Failure to pay rent. These four words can mean a world of trouble for landlords. In most jurisdictions landlords can evict their tenants for failure to pay rent due and owing. In New Jersey, a state whose laws and courts are very pro-tenant, the use of the words "due and owing" indicates that the Court must listen to any equitable defense a tenant may have which would establish why the rent is not "owing". An equitable defense is one that will show the Court that the rent is truly not owed by the tenant due to things such as the property being in a condition that makes it either unsafe or uninhabitable for the tenant.
Failure to pay rent due and owing is the only ground that does not require a landlord to send notice to the tenant before instituting an eviction suit. Under New Jersey law, the term "rent" is not only limited to monthly monetary payments that are due. Other monies that can be considered rent include expenses incurred by the landlord due to the non-paying tenant such as late charges, insufficient fund fees charged due to bounced checks, filing and service costs for court and counsel fees as well as any non-paid rental installments.
It is important to note that a landlord who accepts partial payment for rent does not waive their right to collect the additional rent due. In order to protect yourself as the landlord, you should send the tenant a letter which states that the acceptance of the partial payment they submitted is not a waiver of your right to collect the balance due.
The remainder any unpaid rent, along with the charges for bounced check and court fees listed above can be pursued in an eviction action provided they are characterized as "additional rent" in the lease agreement.
