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By Jennifer L. Alexander, Esq. April 15, 2020 Posted in Landlord/Tenant Law Share

In a recent unpublished case, Canales v. Yu, N.J. Super. App. Div. (per curiam), a landlord/tenant dispute that started out with the landlord not returning a security deposit ended with the landlord receiving an award covering only a small fraction of the damage incurred, with no costs or expenses. The Plaintiff and Third-Party Defendants (collectively, Tenants) rented the first floor of a residential property owned by the Defendant (Landlord). Issues arose as the landlord alleged the tenants damaged the property and the tenants claimed that the landlord failed to make requested repairs, which resulted in the tenants agreeing to vacate the property. The landlord stated that she was not going to return their security deposit because the property had been damaged.

By Jennifer L. Alexander, Esq. April 14, 2020 Posted in Community Association Law, Landlord/Tenant Law Share

Yesterday was a heavy calendar for the Senate and Assembly. A number of impactful bills were up for consideration. Our office is providing you an update on bills relevant to you. Many of these bills were considered in the Assembly and the Senate simultaneously yesterday. They would provide relief for New Jersey residents and businesses due to the COVID‑19 pandemic. Please see the bullet-point summary of the bills that were up for consideration yesterday:

By Jennifer L. Alexander, Esq. April 12, 2020 Posted in Landlord/Tenant Law Share

The New Jersey Legislature is meeting Monday, April 12th to consider more bills to provide relief to those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The current bills being considered are varied, but there is one bill in particular which may substantially impact landlords.

By Jennifer L. Alexander, Esq. April 7, 2020 Posted in Community Association Law, Landlord/Tenant Law Share

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) recently issued a Notice as to the legality and enforcement of animal policies in multiple dwellings with respect to Assistance Animals under the Fair Housing Act (“FHA”). This Notice applies to a variety of multiple dwellings, including apartment buildings and community associations.  The Notice assists in gaining an understanding of the obligations of housing providers and regulators toward tenants and owners with disabilities with respect to the ability to keep animals in their dwellings. The Notice also replaces several pieces of guidance previously issued by HUD on housing providers’ obligations regarding service and assistance animals.

By Jennifer L. Alexander, Esq. April 6, 2020 Posted in Landlord/Tenant Law Share

On March 21, 2020, Governor Phil Murphy issued Executive Order No. 107, which closed to the public the brick-and-mortar premises of all non-essential retail businesses due to the COVID‑19 pandemic. It also deemed a subset of retail businesses as “essential” and permitted them to remain open during their normal business hours. The Governor also issued Executive Order No. 108 that same day. In a nutshell, Executive Order 108 allows municipalities or counites to impose additional restrictions in response to those established by Executive Order No. 107, under certain conditions.

By Jennifer L. Alexander, Esq. April 6, 2020 Posted in Landlord/Tenant Law Share

We hope you are all managing and staying healthy throughout these difficult times. Governments across the country are taking action to help keep tenants in their homes and stop evictions. For example, evictions are not happening right now in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. However, some individual cities are attempting to take more aggressive action to keep renters in apartments: enacting rent freezes.

By Jennifer L. Alexander, Esq. March 31, 2020 Posted in Landlord/Tenant Law Share

We hope that you, your friends, family, and loved ones are all staying safe and healthy, especially under these difficult circumstances. As a result of the ongoing COVID‑19 pandemic, everything has begun to change. While we all hope that things will return to normal soon, no one can be certain when this crisis will end. To help cope with all this uncertainty, we at Griffin Alexander, P.C., are prepared to help our clients develop plans to work with their tenants while society adapts.

By Jennifer L. Alexander, Esq. March 24, 2020 Posted in Landlord/Tenant Law Share

By now, most states have instituted mandatory rules requiring non-essential people to work from home.  In many cases, some workers have been afforded this convenience, however there are many that have lost employment.   In all cases, one major concern has been the ability of many individuals and families to continuing making rent payments to landlords.

By Jennifer L. Alexander, Esq. March 20, 2020 Posted in Landlord/Tenant Law Share

In response to Covid-19, on March 18, 2020, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Western District has issued an Order directing that all Pennsylvania courts are closed to the public from March 20, 2020 through at least April 3, 2020. With regard to landlord/tenant court matters, it was directed that during the period encompassed by the Order or the judicial emergency, whichever is longer, “no officer, official, or other person employed by the Pennsylvania Judiciary at any level shall effectuate an eviction, ejectment, or other displacement from a residence based upon the failure to make a rent, loan, or other similar payment. Nothing herein is intended to preclude requests for orders of possession resulting from judgments entered in landlord-tenant actions to be filed by mail. However, any execution on an order of possession is stayed to a date on or after April 3, 2020, subject to further orders.” Further, all time calculations for purposes of time computation relevant to court cases or other judicial business, as well as time deadlines, are also suspended through April 3, 2020.