dope in the garden state

[Lloyd Spencer]

tenant 2 complained that tenant 1 was smoking so much dope that her kids are getting high in the upstairs unit. smoking and illegal activities are lease violations so i sent a notice to cease on Sept 1 via certified mail and tenant 1 contacted me about it at the time. fast forward to today, another complaint from upstairs. they say they are considering calling the police, I say go ahead. preliminary conversations with attorneys indicate that eviction for things other than non payment are expensive/difficult in NJ. approx 9 months to go on both leases. what are my responsibilities in this scenario? I can't easily get evidence of the activity. should I just wait it out? so far both pay on time.

[Kessia Khadine]

Let them call the cops and have a report filed. If there is an arrest (prove of alleged drug activity) I'm sure you'll have more leverage in the event of an eviction. You can't evict someone on hearsay so until you have something tangible your phone will be ringing. I'm not a lawyer or landlord but I've been in NJ eviction court as a tenant. The law is on the tenant's side but a police report of illegal activity is solid proof of lease violation. Tenant may get 14-60 days (from MY experiences) to move out so be prepared for retaliation. Is there a reason you don't have a property management company?