Walk It Through: The Complaint
A presumption of reprisal, no entry without legal process, and good cause for any eviction.
A tenant reports a broken heater to the city housing inspector, and soon after the landlord sends a notice ending the tenancy.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One apartment and one complaint. Owner occupied buildings, the notice each cause requires, and unpaid rent are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Disorderly conductWith purpose to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly risking it, fighting, threatening, behaving violently or tumultuously, or creating a hazardous condition with no legitimate purpose. A petty disorderly persons offense.
- Good causeOne of the grounds the statute lists, without which the Superior Court may not remove a residential tenant: unpaid rent, disorderly conduct or broken rules continued after written notice to cease, damage to the premises, habitual late rent, and others.
- Notice to ceaseA written notice telling a tenant to stop disorderly conduct, breaking reasonable rules or lease terms, or habitually paying late. Those grounds for eviction exist only when the conduct continues after it.
- Notice to quitThe written notice before an eviction action that specifies in detail the cause of the termination, served in person, left with a family member above the age of 14 years, or sent by certified mail.
- Ascertainable lossA loss of money or property from an unlawful practice, which lets a person sue under the consumer fraud law for threefold the damages, plus reasonable attorneys' fees, filing fees and costs of suit.
- Disorderly persons offenseThe grade below the crimes, punishable by not more than 6 months and a fine up to $1,000.00.
- Unlawful entry and detainerEntering and holding a home without the consent of the person in possession, outside the eviction procedures the law provides. A person who does it to rental property is a disorderly person.
- ReprisalA notice to quit, a suit for possession, or a substantial change in the tenancy, including refusing to renew without cause, because a tenant enforced rights, complained in good faith about health or safety, or joined a lawful organization.