Willful Destruction of Property?

[Victor Kao]

I have a troublesome tenant who has a history of causing issues and non-payment in a condo on the second floor. The condo is located in NJ.

Just 2 weeks ago the condo above my unit had a failing washing machine that caused excessive flooding in my unit. We immediately called the HOA to contact the owner of the upstairs unit to shut off water and investigate the issue and had a water mitigation company (ServPro) come. They did emergency mitigation. However they said that the tenant's furniture was in the way and preventing them from completing work necessary to eliminate moisture. The tenant demanded that all his furniture be moved at someone else's expense even though he is required by the lease and HOA bylaws to have renters insurance which would normally cover these expenses for him. He keeps saying that it should be the HOA insurance, landlord insurance, or the owner of the unit upstairs that should cover these expenses for him and refuses to pay to have his personal belongings moved to allow work. ServPro quoted $3000 to have his items moved into a pod while work is done and to have his items moved back, but he refuses to pay a penny for anything (including rent for a year and a half I might add).

To make matters worse, he threatened to unplug all water mitigation equipment left running in the condo used to remove moisture and possible contaminants from the air. I immediately advised him that such actions may cause mold to grow and may be considered Willfull Destruction of Property. He ignored this warning saying maybe this will incentivize the insurance companies to pay to move his belongings. I also asked him in later conversations if he unplugged any equipment and he told me no, all equipment is still plugged in and running.

It is now 2 weeks later and the HOA insurance adjustor came to do an inspection to determine damages and possible coverage. ServPro also came to check on their equipment. Of course the tenant refused to cooperate and didn't show up to let us in even though he had agreed to do so just 2 days ago when making the appointment. Upon entry we found that all of the water mitigation equipment had been unplugged. The adjustor and ServPro noted this and measured moisture in the area, walls and ceilings stating that moisture levels were above levels necessary to grow mold and that his actions may have resulted in secondary damage (mold growth) that might not be covered by insurance. Unfortunately this cannot be confirmed until further work is done which still requires the tenant's furniture to be removed. I recorded a video of our entry that shows all of this in evidence.

The question now is: is this considered Destruction of Property either Willful or through Gross Negligence? If so, I would like to proceed with providing a 3-Day Notice to Quit for such reasons. And then proceeding with eviction proceedings under this premise along with non-payment and breaking lease terms by not having renters insurance. What do you guys think? What's the best way to proceed with evicting the tenant and removing his furniture to allow for work to continue?

I know one possibility is that I pay the $3000 out of pocket to move the tenant's belongings but that I'm not inclined to do so since this tenant has been beyond horrible since day 1 and I do not wish to help him in any way unless insurance can help financially.

What do you guys think?