New Jersey Tenant Consistently Late on Rent, Missing Rent and Now Unresponsive

[Daljit S.]

Hello BP,

I'm currently house-hacking a 2-family property in the Hudson County area. I bought the home just over two years ago when interest rates were at an all-time low. When I purchased the house, the second unit was already occupied, and I decided to keep the tenant.

The tenant has been living there for the past 3 years and had not missed a rent payment until a few months ago. Since April of this year, they have consistently been paying rent late in partial payments. They typically communicate that they will be late and do end up paying the full rent plus the late fee by the end of each month.

Unfortunately, we've reached a point this month where they submitted a partial payment at the beginning of the month and have now become unresponsive and have not paid the monthly balance. I've tried reaching out to the tenant multiple times but have not heard a word from them over the past week. They are on a year lease that expires in December.

This is my first property and first time dealing with this issue. Experienced NJ landlords, how would you handle this? Would you recommend getting an attorney? I'd prefer not to go through the eviction process, but their lack of responsiveness leaves me no choice.

Thanks in advance for your help!