In NJ, do landlords must offer to renew the current leases?

[David Smith]

Let's say, tenant moved in and has one year lease till next year.  60 days before lease expires, can landlords simply tell tenant -- "No renewal ; please move out when lease expires." ? 

It seems tenants can rent as long as they want ( unless you can evict them) and landlords can only raise rent according to each town's rent control law.

[Mike Bonadies]

Hi @David Smith! First off, it you are new to being a landlord in NJ I highly suggest spending an hour with a lawyer and walking through what you can and cannot do. I'd find a RE Lawyer specifically and just explain you are a new to being a landlord in NJ and you want a general walk-through. It may cost $200+ dollars but its worth every cent. I did it myself and it saved a couple times already.

Now to my understanding, NJ is a "eviction for cause" state. In other words, you cannot just terminate a tenant just because their lease is up. NJ law stipulates there are 18 reasons (I'm not 100% sure on the exact number) why you can terminate/evict a tenant and you must state which reason it is when you terminate them. I believe the verbiage is a bit tricky and I'm not experienced enough myself so when I do have to do this I just pay my lawyer to send the letters. It cost a $50-75 but well worth the headache avoidance if I mess it up myself.

That said, if you don't like the tenant you can offer a rent increase or other unfavorable terms and hope they don't renew. I've never had to do that so you probably want to confirm that with a lawyer.