renting in a condomininum building

April 6, 2012 5:45 PM

i am currently looking to rent a condo, which I have never done before. I got the lease today to review and I have a few questions.

This will be the second place I've ever rented and I have never previously rented in a condo building so I am pretty new to this. I put in a application to rent a condo in new jersey and was approved. i got the lease to review today and had a few questions

1. Lease states that "your tenancy can be terminated upon 60 days notice if your apartment is sold to a buyer who seeks to personally occupy it. if you move out as a result of receiving such a notice and the landlord arbitrarily fails to complete the sale, the landlord shall be liable for treble damanges and court costs"....this makes me nervous, is this standard for leasing a condo?

2. in addition, on the rider to the lease, it states that this property is on short sale and currently has an accepted offer. tenant must cooperate for showing, etc, etc.....which is why #1 makes me nervous, thoughts?

3. "tenant is responsible for the first $100 toward any minor repairs. however, it is tenant's responsibility for all repairs due to tenant's negligence. if any repair exceed over $100, tenant should consult with landlord"....should I be responsible for ANY amount of a repair that is not due to my negligence?

thanks in advance!!

posted by cm1088 to Law & Government (4 answers total)

1. This sounds basically in accord with NJ standards - section L of this page (NJ tenant law) says that if the landlord wants to move in they must give you 2 months notice. Sounds like they are just making it clear about how this works in case of a sale.

2. yea, that would make me nervous. See if you can get confirmation of whether or not the guy who made the accepted offer plans to move in.

3. Not sure about this one, but I found a couple of New Jersey 'tenant/landlord guides' that say 'normally the tenant is responsible for minor repairs and the landlord for major repairs, the difference is outlined in the lease'. (example
posted by jacalata at 6:19 PM on April 6, 2012

The condo is being sold, there's an offer, and you're required to move out within 60 days of the sale being completed if the buyer wants to move in?

I don't understand why you'd consider this apartment. You don't really want to move into a place, just to have to potentially move again in 60 days. There are other apartments out there that are better for you.
posted by dfriedman at 6:58 PM on April 6, 2012 [4 favorites]

I would want them to agree to be moving costs, and I would want them to pay for repair costs that were not my fault.
posted by J. Wilson at 7:26 PM on April 6, 2012

Yeah, I would be worried. I rented a house where the landlord was out of state getting a Ph. D, but then he decided to drop out and come back. It really sucks having to move out of a place you like on arbitrary short notice. From what you describe it sounds like they're just trying to cover some payments and make whatever cash they can while selling and closing. I'd keep looking, unless it's really cheap and you're ready to move out on a moments notice.
posted by jeffamaphone at 11:06 AM on April 8, 2012