Evicting a Roommate in New Jersey

New Jersey is one of the most tenant-friendly jurisdictions in the country. While this is great for you in your role as a tenant, it makes evicting your roommate (who is in all likelihood technically your “subtenant”) very difficult. In this guide, we’ll show you how to evict a roommate from your New Jersey apartment—but be advised that without the help of your landlord, you won't be able to get far.

Do I have the legal power to evict my roommate?

The answer to this question depends on who is named on the lease. Here's what happens in a handful of different scenarios:

• What if you're both on the lease? You absolutely cannot evict your roommate, as you are not your roommate’s “landlord.”
• What if there's no lease? If there is no lease in place, you are not a “landlord” under New Jersey law. As such, you cannot evict your roommate.
• What if I’m on the lease and my roommate is not? If your lease does not explicitly ban subletting, and you get your landlord on board with your lawsuit, you can evict your roommate.

That's the gist—but, of course, the law is more complicated than that. Landlord-tenant relations in New Jersey are governed by two laws: Title 46 of the New Jersey Annotated Code, and the Anti-Eviction Act. A “landlord” in New Jersey law is defined as anyone who either owns or “exercises control” of a piece of real property. For certain legal purposes, this means you are a “landlord” if you have a sublease agreement with your subtenant. However, there is one huge exception to this rule.

In New Jersey, a court will not grant a judgment of eviction unless a “landlord” (that’s you) can show that they registered under the Landlord Identity Law, also known as the Landlord Registration Act. This requires the owner—and only the owner—of a piece of real estate to file a form with the State of New Jersey, essentially certifying that he owns property he intends to rent out.

The Landlord Identity Law also specifies: “In any action for possession instituted by a landlord who has failed to comply with the provisions of this act, no judgment for possession shall be entered until there has been compliance. The court shall continue such case for up to 90 days and if there has not been compliance within such period, the action shall be dismissed.” Got that? It means that without producing the copy of the registration, a court will not enter a “judgment of possession” in your favor—in other words, a court will not evict your roommate. You need your actual landlord's cooperation to successfully evict a roommate/subtenant in New Jersey.

Plus, New Jersey law allows landlords to ban or otherwise restrict subletting in primary leases. If your lease bans you from subletting, but you did it anyway, you are in violation of your lease—in which case your landlord is unlikely to help you evict your roommate without evicting you, too.

How do I know if I have a good reason to evict?

Let’s first clarify the very important point made above: whatever your reasons, you are not going to be able to evict your roommate without your landlord’s help. So, for the purposes of this section, we will assume that your landlord is on board with helping you kick out your subtenant/roommate. There are four grounds for eviction in New Jersey:

1. Your roommate has not paid the rent. This is the case even if you and your roommate do not have a formal written sublease. New Jersey does recognize verbal agreements.

2. Your roommate has violated the lease in some other way. Remember, if both of you are on a lease, you cannot evict your roommate. So the “lease” we are talking about here is a sublease. If you and your roommate entered into a sublease agreement, and she has violated one of its terms, she can be evicted. If there is no written sublease, then you have a problem. Technically speaking, you can evict your sublessor based on a breach of an oral agreement the two of you made, but you are going to need to prove the existence of the agreement in court, and that she violated it.

3. Your roommate is threatening physical harm. New Jersey also allows evictions to proceed based on the “disorderly conduct” of a tenant. Essentially, “disorderly conduct” means physical harm or the threat thereof, or the creation of a dangerous condition. In one case, a New Jersey court found that threatening to hurt the landlord, and physically assaulting one of the landlord's employees, was sufficient “disorderly conduct” to warrant eviction.

4. Your roommate has a month-to-month sublease. If you and your roommate do not have an agreement that she can stay for a fixed period of time, but instead have a so-called “month-to-month” sublease, you can end her sublease at any time with 30 days’ notice. This is not technically an “eviction” unless she refuses to leave, but it’s good for you to know regardless.

Should I get my landlord to help with the eviction?

If you and your roommate are both on the lease, the only way you can get your roommate out is by involving your landlord. Talk to your landlord and explain why you want your roommate out. If your roommate is causing damage to the apartment, or if their actions make it difficult for you to pay the rent, your landlord may be more motivated to get them out.

As noted above, if your subtenant is not on the primary lease, you are probably still going to have to involve your landlord in the eviction. First, check your lease and see if subletting is allowed. If so, you have not breached your lease and should feel free to talk to your landlord.

If subletting is banned in your lease, you need to proceed very carefully. If possible, see if you can get your roommate to leave without resorting to a legal process. (Try serving them a notice to cease, the first step in the eviction process, which doesn't actually involve the court.) If this doesn’t work, you can try to file for eviction without your landlord’s help—but be advised that the court could demand that the owner of your apartment be informed about and participate in the litigation, which could cause problems for you.

How much notice do I have to give my roommate?

If you are evicting your roommate based on a failure to pay rent, New Jersey law allows you to proceed straight to the filing of eviction papers, as detailed below.

If you are evicting your roommate for disorderly conduct, you first need to serve her with a “notice to cease.” She then has three days to “cease” her behavior—if she does not, you can file for eviction.

If you are evicting your roommate based on some other breach of your sublease, or based on a month-to-month sublease coming to an end, you need to provide her with 30 days' notice. Again, serve the notice to cease—she will have 30 days to cure her violation. If she fails to do so, you can file eviction papers.

All of the above notices must be served on your roommate in accordance with the laws of New Jersey. This essentially means that you, or someone on your behalf, must hand the notice directly to your roommate. Mailing is not sufficient.

How do I file eviction papers?

If you have already served notice and your roommate hasn't fixed the problem within the designated time period, it’s time to file. Head to your Superior Court, Special Civil Part, and fill out and file a summons and a Complaint. If your case is not based on a failure to pay rent, make sure you bring multiple copies of the notice you already gave your roommate, as well as any written lease agreement you two have, and your own lease agreement with your landlord. The cost to file is $50. The clerk at the courthouse will provide you with a stamped and signed form that includes a court date when both you and your roommate have to appear before a judge.

Note that the complaint requires you to certify that the property has been registered under the Landlord Identity Act. You may not know if this is the case unless you have gotten your landlord on board, since there's no publicly accessible database of landlord property registrations. Technically, you should have been a copy of this form when you moved into your apartment—if so, you can safely check this box. But if not, you are going to need to speak to your landlord.

Assuming you are able to file your summons and complaint, you need to have your roommate served. One very important thing to note—you cannot serve this directly on your roommate. It must be done by a third party. You can hire a process server, or request that the county sheriff serve your roommate.

What happens in court?

Whether your roommate is contesting the eviction or not, you should be fully prepared for your court date. Make sure to bring all of your evidence to show the judge during your first scheduled court appearance. This includes bank statements showing your roommate’s previous rent payments, as well as proof that you paid the full monthly rent to your landlord. This will help you establish the existence of an agreement between you and your roommate. If you are seeking to evict your roommate based on some other violation of your sublease, bring all the proof you need to show the judge that she breached the sublease. For example, if she physically damaged the apartment, bring photos.

If your roommate contests the eviction, this process could go on for some time. Before a trial takes place, the court will mandate that you and your roommate try to mediate your dispute—this will give you one final chance to reach an agreement. If an agreement is simply not possible, there will be a trial, during which you will need to prove that your tenant violated your lease agreement, whether written or oral in nature. At this point, it is strongly recommended that you consult with a landlord-tenant lawyer.

If your roommate doesn't contest the eviction, and you are seeking a default judgment, the judge may issue a “warrant for removal” against your roommate, giving her a set number of days to remove herself from the apartment. However, the judge will not do this if you have failed to produce the landlord registration filed by the owner of your apartment.

If you produce that registration, then you may have finally won your eviction case! Have the warrant for removal served on your roommate by a sheriff. Your roommate will either leave voluntarily, or be forced out with her belongings. If she has still not left three days after being served with the warrant for removal, you are within your rights to lock her out.

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