Help! Tenant Stopped Paying in NJ

[Matthew Rembish]

Looking for a little advice with this...

I've had a tenant for about 10 months now who I've constantly had payment issues with but who has always made the effort to try and pay. He was almost fully paid up and then fell behind again. At the moment, he is a month and a half behind and has just informed me that he can't pay me anymore. Apparently he's "lent" money to family and they have not paid him back. Currently, we are about a month and a half away from the end of his lease so what I'm wondering is, should I get everything prepared for an eviction, wait for the end of the lease, or try to get him out another way (say cash for keys). As you can probably tell, this is one of my first rentals and the first time I' running into this so I just wanted to get the community's thoughts on this. It's also probably worth mentioning that I live in NJ, which is VERY pro-tenant.

Any feedback is much appreciated!

[Edward L lauckern]

Get him to sign a surrender of property which ends the lease and gives the property back to.you. I would tell him as long as he leaves the property clean so it can be rented .you will not persue him in court and you will still give him a reference. Do what you can to get him out asap without eviction. Doesnt seem like you'll be getting any money from this guy even if you did sue him. So at this point try to mitigate your losses.