Newark Room Rental Illegal?

[Hady Farag]

Hey BP community,

I just recently purchased a 2 family in Newark in which I inherited tenants that the previous owner had. I wasn't 100% sure If I wanted to keep them or not but decided to keep them because they were all paying on time and were good tenants.

Now here's where my problem begins;

Each tenant is occupying a bedroom. Which is pretty common in New York City, however, upon consulting with a lawyer regarding a separate issue, It's come to my knowledge that having room rentals are considered illegal in the state of NJ. 

I made the decision to want to end everyone's tenancy and avoid any litigations later on down the line. But one thing is what I WANT to do and what I CAN do. It seems like I can't legally evict anyone without possibly running into trouble if the tenant decides to go that route. 

Has anyone in New Jersey experienced this? I'm not sure why my lawyer at the time didn't advise me that this would potentially be an issue later on down the line and I'm also not sure why the city even issued a CO. Any advice or recommendations on lawyers that specialize in this is greatly appreciated .