Trying to Evict me

I live in NJ and I have a dire situation. I live in a house which is currently trying to be sold. Befroe I moved in the landlord made it clear to me that I will be under lease and if the house is sold then the new landlord would have to honor the lease. About a lil over a month ago I lost my job and I was unable to pay rent. Just recently I started to receive unemployment benefits and I am starting to pay my rent again. The landlord has threatened to evict me and has actually said you have to leave by this date. The landlord has also told me that there is a potential buyer for the house but they dont want to buy it because of me living here. Given I pay a ridiculously low rent and they want to rent out my unit come summer time because they will get about 15 grand for the summer as opposed to me staying here, they will get less than 4 grand. Just recently also the landlord trying to forcibly enter my unit without even calling me. Reason I knwo this is because I have 2 locks and I am the only person who knows how to open the top lock, I wake up one mourning to find the bottom lock unlocked and a note by the landlord saying to call him. He came to my unit the day after I sent him a partial check for the rent thats due. I am not months late come this april I would have to owe the april rent and partial march rent.
I dont know what to do I have been looking constantly for work to try to pay my rent I am trying to pay lil by lil what I can from my unemp. check. If he was to try to go to the judge will he get approved for the eviction?? I am scared to lose my unit.
Another friend suggested that if he wants me out that badly to tell him ok I have 6months left on the lease give me 5 grand and I'll leave. Can I do that? He also suggested to me that I wouldnt be evicted for reasons that I am showing and attempting to pay rent and not refusing to pay.
I dont know what my options are what or what I cant do. If anyone is out there please help me. Thank You.

[OHlandlord]

The LL is correct. If the house is sold, the new owner would have to honor your lease. If the prospective buyer does not want a tenant, they can buy and wait out your lease (giving you notice they will not renew at its end), or just pass on buying that house. However, this is assuming you are in compliance with your lease terms. You are not. By being behind in rent, the LL can evict you from the premises (even for just being behind one month's rent). After you are evicted, he can sell to the prospective buyer or re-rent the unit.

Did the LL give you a 30 day notice to vacate the unit? Do you have 30 days to be out? If so, this is the first step towards an eviction in your state. If you are not out by that time, he will file for eviction in court. Most states use a 3 to 10 days Pay or Quit notice. NJ has the longest length, and uses a 30 day one. You need to be paid up in full. You must be COMPLETELY current in rent to avoid eviction. Once he files for eviction, you will have to pay IN FULL before the court date or you will be set out of the unit. He will win an eviction for non-payment. Unless your lease has a payment pln attached to it, your LL does not have to accept partial payments of rent. The lease calls for full payments on the due date, nothing else. Can you borrow the rent to get caught up and be current on rent before a court date? (You would have to be paid up through April to avoid eviction.)

If you know that you cannot be paid in full by the court date, it would be best for you to move out before it is filed with a court (within the 30 days notice). Once filed, the eviction case will show up on your court records for years to come (even if later dropped!). Any future LL would see that eviction had been filed against you. You will be automatically denied most places to rent based on that. It would be hard to find a decent place to live after that.

If you are behind in rent, the LL will not have to buy you out of the lease. By not making the rent payments when due, you are in violation of the lease. A tenant in good standing can request a buy out as an incentive to move. The LL could agree and pay the tenant to move out, or disagree and the tenant could stay until the end of his lease. A tenant who is behind in rent has no grounds to ask for a buy out at all! No LL would buy out a tenant who is behind in his rent. It is easier and cheaper to evict you. Eviction for non-payment is very simple. Don't ask for a buyout unless you are in good standing in your lease terms.

Also, NJ has no statute on giving notice to a tenant prior to LL entry. (The idea that 24 hours notice is required is false. Many states have no requirement of this kind.) There is no NJ law on LL access, unless one was passed recently, to require him to give you prior notice. Check for a new state law on this or a local (city) statute that says if any notice is now required. If there is no law, he is not required to notify you before he comes. If he cannot gain entry because you have changed the locks, you may be in violation of your lease.

[tsrodriguez]

Perhaps you can help me, im in a similar situation. i have recently returned to work, while on disability i fell behind in the rent a little. i did inform the LL of my situation and told him i would pay what i could to catch up. i recently sent him a check for 1000 (owing 3), a week later i received a court paper for eviction. my lease is also up in 2 weeks. if i pay the 2000 in back rent plus this new months coming will the courts still evict me, being as he has not given me a new lease for the year term coming?

[OHlandlord]

This depends on where you live. Please post the state. In some states, a tenant can pay as late as the court hearing itself and be able to cancel the eviction. In other states (sometimes called "no second chance" states), he can evict you even if you pay up. The fact that he didn't receive his rent on time is reason enough to evict in those states.

Keep in mind that even if you pay up now, that is no guarantee that he won't just give you a notice to vacate (normally 30 days notice, but again it depends on your state). Without a current lease you are considered a month to month tenant. He needs no reason to give you notice to move out. He only needs to give you the sufficient time to do so according to your state law.