Fine for leaving garbage in hallway

[Sami Gren]

Hi, all. 

I'm having problems in a building where some tenants leave their garbage bags in the hallway overnight or even more..

how would you approach this situation  ?

and can I legally fine them? [It's in the state of new jersey]

thank you

[Account Closed]

We state that in the lease that trash bags cannot be left outside an apartment for even 1 minute.

Every tenant has the same excuse; "we just put it there for one minute until we take it to the trash".

I never heard of a landlord fining a tenant for anything. Not sure about a lease, but you can always put inclusions in a rental agreement with a 30-day notice. Rather than fining a tenant you need to give them a 7-Day Notice To Comply. It can be very simple. 

7-Day Notice To Comply

Dear Mr. & Mrs. Smith:

This is a 7-Day Notice To Comply. Please refrain from placing your trash outside your apartment for even one minute. Please keep your trash inside your apartment until you are ready to take it to the trash bins.

Thank you very much.

Most tenants comply. When they don't evict them and raise the rent. I just evicted a very good-paying tenant because her water heater stopped working on a Sunday. She sent me a nasty text message at noon and said she was going to call another plumbing company if I did not respond in 30 minutes. I am a plumbing contractor. I called her on the phone and she was really nasty. So, I fixed her water heater on Monday and gave her a Notice To Terminate Tenancy the same day. I had her apartment rented before she moved out and I am getting $250 more per month. That is $2800 per year and in 10 years is $28,000.