Failure return the Security Deposit - Landlord Forum thread 350882

Failure return the Security Deposit by Peter (NJ) on February 26, 2017 @19:00

Landlord failure to communicate with me. Its been 30 days, the security deposit is not returned. This is NJ. I sent demand letter to the landlord address as in the lease. The letter returned not delivered as he is not residing there. Went to court to file the claim. The court clerk asked me to fill his correct address so that court paper can be served. How do I proceed further?

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Re: Failure return the Security Deposit by Garry on February 26, 2017 @20:11	[ Reply ]

First, did you do what you were supposed to do when you moved out, which was to leave your LL the keys, leave the place clean, in really good shape with no damage, and leave a written letter with your forwarding address on it, for the LL to send the security deposit statement to? If you did all that, consider yourself a really good tenant. If not, shame on you. As for finding the LL, try checking utility companies, the post office, or your city's assessors office, to try to get a current address for him. Until you get an address for him, apparently you cannot file in the court system against him. That happens to us LLs a lot, too, that we cannot find a T that we want to take to court. Good luck on your search.

Re: Failure return the Security Deposit by Anonymous on February 26, 2017 @21:45	[ Reply ]

Maybe the following advice will assist you... The Landlord Identity Law, N.J.S.A. 46:8-27, et seq., requires landlords who rent property to tenants to file a Landlord Identity Registration Form or obtain a Certificate of Registration from the Bureau of Housing Inspection of the Department of Community Affairs. In addition to filing the information with the municipal clerk or the Bureau of Housing Inspection in the Department of Community Affairs, the landlord must supply this information to each tenant of the property. The consequences for failing to register as a landlord, If not registered properly will expose landlord to liability for a fine of up to $500 per offense. The registration requirement can be enforced by the Attorney General, the municipality where the premises is located, or any other person in a summary proceeding. Consequently, a tenant could enforce this provision against a landlord if the tenant is not given the requisite disclosure. N.J.A.C. 5:29 (2013) If the address of any record owner is not located in the county in which the dwelling is located, the name and address of a person who resides in the county and is authorized to accept notices from a tenant, to issue receipts for those notices and to accept service of process on behalf of the out-of-county record owner(s) Cities and counties may also require registration.

Re: Failure return the Security Deposit

Re: Failure return the Security Deposit by Micah on February 27, 2017 @11:48	[ Reply ]

Did you leave your forwarding address with the landlord? Did you notify the landlord when you moved out? Was it scheduled or did you need to break the lease? I know that with mail forwarding here it can take several days to a week extra for a letter to get to the right place and that's if it was filed with the post office at the time of move-out. Did you check to see if the PO had delivered it to the previous address? OR it could be that your ll is a douche and hasn't done the proper work.

Re: Failure return the Security Deposit