All Forum Posts by: Nicholas Jose

Quote from @Joseph Guzzardi Jr:

@Nicholas Jose I hope the daughter who is causing the trouble is in the lease.

She is on the Lease. Under the "OTHER LEASE PROVISIONS, IF ANY" section, it states:

"Tenants confirm that the occupants of the apartment shall be the tenants, [Father's name] and [Mother's name], and their xx-year-old daughter, [Daughter's name]."

Since my current attorney is taking forever to email me back, I'd like to know if there are any reputable attorneys in NJ knowledgeable in dealing with mental health that I can reach out to. It may be appropriate to contact me via DM, though.

Quote from @Joseph Guzzardi Jr:

@Nicholas Jose Definitely get in touch with an attorney who deals with evictions and evictions only in your local market. Document everything that has happened, get police records if possible. You are likely going to have to navigate fair housing laws and follow a long, drawn out process to get this family removed. It's possible you can do cash for keys but it's not a guarantee that will work

I wouldn't necessarily want to evict the entire family, only the daughter (who is in obvious need to be committed to a mental facility). The 1st-floor tenants have never been late for paying rent and have signed their new Lease Agreements despite the increase in rent, which is nice. Plus, they have gone so far as to change the old washer and dryer (that already came with the rental property) for new ones, so the cash-for-keys option is out.

Plus, NJ is a tenant-friendly state, so I'd rather not go through the painfully-long eviction process.

Quote from @Jonah Hartsburg:

While this is not legal advice, it might be worthwhile for your lawyer to explore your neighboring tenant's "right to quiet enjoyment" and assess whether their actions are technically infringing on that.

On my Lease Agreement with my 1st-floor tenants, my Quiet Enjoyment section states that:

"The Tenant may occupy the Property without interference, subject to the Tenant’s compliance with the Terms of this Lease. The Tenant further agrees to abide by any and all local, county, and state noise ordinances."

From my POV, I would say that the 1st-floor tenants are breaching the Lease Agreement by not controlling their daughter, but I'm still waiting for my attorney to get back two me. The holidays are upon us, so it might take a while before he messages me again.

In the meantime, I'm considering writing a "1st warning" letter to the 1st-floor tenants so that they could get their act together as quickly as possible.

Good afternoon, everyone.

I have a tenant (under the age of 21) who is the daughter of a family who rents from my rental property. I believe she may have a mental illness based on what I am about to tell you, so with this being said, the description of her violations is as follows:

It all began when a tenant from the 2nd-floor unit of my apartment sent me a picture of the apartment's front door lock. The lock was somehow busted wide open, which made me think that a break-in had occurred. I called the mother renting the 1st-floor unit to know what was going on, and she reassured me that her daughter – in her manic episode – was the one who broke the lock on the front door. (The lock had long since been repaired by the father.) This predicament was the first time I've heard the mother tell me over the phone that her daughter has "mental issues".

A few months later, a tenant living in the 2nd-floor unit was reporting "loud banging noises and screaming" coming from the 1st-floor unit. The loud banging sounds can be heard and felt from the 2nd-floor tenant's bedroom, as evidence of his stuff on the shelf shaking from the vibrations. I immediately contacted the mother to know what was going on (again), and she explained to me that she was on her way back to the apartment to check up on her daughter, who was the source of all the commotion.

The loud banging and screaming incidents have occurred on three separate occasions and during the day, so I can't issue a warning to the 1st-floor tenants for violating the township's noise ordinance. At this point, the mother's description of her daughter having "mental issues" has to be taken very seriously, especially since I learned today from my 2nd-floor tenant that, one on occasion, an ambulance visited my rental property, picked up the daughter, and returned her either later that day or the following day.

I understand that this is a very delicate situation. I wouldn't want the police to be involved in this matter, but if someone were to get hurt by the daughter, I would be left with no other choice. I have reached out to my attorney about this, but he hasn't gotten back to me yet, and I don't want to wait any longer for this problem to continue. Any legal advice on how to navigate through this ordeal is very much welcomed and appreciated. Thank you.

Good afternoon.

My tenants have been paying for their own separate gas and electricity bills, but when it comes to water, I'm the one that's paying (since there's only one meter for water). I've been thinking of increasing my tenants' rent so that it includes the water bill; however, they've been paying on time and I'm just not sure how they'll react once they see their rents go up: angry? understanding? How should I explain it to them?

Quote from @Jonathan G.:

@Nicholas Jose

20% is too much.

Dangit, I already told him I'd reimburse him 20% of the electricity bill every month. Well, at least I was able to raise his rent. Maybe in the next lease agreement, I'll add a clause that says I'll only pay for 10% of his utility bill (or maybe even less).

Quote from @Andrew B.:

Personally, I would install LED bulbs, then calculate how much money it would cost to run that bulb 24/7. Give that tenant a rent credit every month for the $2-3 and then its not their electric anymore.

 I'm liking your idea. Maybe just leave everything as-is, then when the first-floor tenant receives his electricity bill, he can forward it to me and I can reimburse him, say, 20%? Is that too much/little?

Quote from @Adrienne Bryson:

Could you perhaps install motion activated lights that turn off with a timer? That way there's no thinking or action involved, the lights will only be on when someone's active in the room.

 If I do that, would I need an electrician to remove the light switches?

Good evening, BP.

So in the ground-floor of my property, I have washers and dryers, one set for the first-floor tenants and the other set for the second-floor tenants. The thing is, the first-floor and ground-floor electrical utilities are connected to each other, so if the second-floor tenants forget to turn off the basement lights after doing their laundry, the first-floor tenants will complain to me about how their electric bill went up.

How can I get the second-floor tenants to remember to turn off the lights in the basement without bringing up the first-floor tenant's electric bill?

@Julie Hartman Thanks! Will do exactly that.