urgent help please

[naz51]

Either me or my boyfriend love usa and visit many times.. this time we are here for education...We found an old apartment in Weehawken NJ after searching for nearly two months having pain in the feet,pockets and also in the soul...it was very hard time...at last we moved in a month ago.. Our landlord did't prefer to make an agreement before a month...
Because of the old water facilities in the apartment we had problem in the bathroom and tried to release the water with some special chemical they sell on the markets ...
later while we were getting shower the landlord screamed out at the door and came in by force to see what was going on in the bathroom as some water flowed to the flat below she said she will call a plumber to find out the problem and asked for the key of our apartment. We did't hesitate to give the key to her as we should have to leave home for a while for school... when we arrived at home in the evening she said she called an emergency plumber and he had to broke some stones on the wall and found out the pipe was broken and she accused us forcing water release...(altough we so the old pipe which was very very old and has many big holes on it so it was impossible for us to manage to broke..) she sad this is because of us and it costed 700 $.She is now forcing us to pay this amount which is not acceptable for us for the moment...we rejected to make the payment as we beleive it is not in our liability it is because of the old facilities system (and we think she prefer to make it new with our money..) it is landloard's fixtures and also she did't give any information to us before paying even she could easly rang our cellphones and inform us about the situation if we could afford it or not ..and she can't show us a 700$ bill only a photocopy of her cheque 700$. which doesn't proof much as she could write, sign and show us easly even if she did not pay such amount...when we insisted to see the bill she got anger and rude accused us not beleiving in her..Because we don't want any problem in a foreign country and we have many things to do yet we offered her to keep the 1000$ deposit she already had even after we live her apartment as we are sure there will be no problem with the utilisies after we leave her apartment when agreement is over by the time of a year.. Next day we found a letter at the door telling that she wants her vacant apartment by the end of july....(in ten days) it is so unfair to ask us moving in a month time..we tried so hard to find an apartment spend a lot of money for nearly two months...we bought furnitures many things...it is not easy to move now..we spend over 5.000 $ and if we move it is imposibble for us to spend the same twice....
will appreciate if you could help me about Landlord and tenant rights when having repaired water facilities and pipes and if it is under her liability or not? and does she has rights to ask us about the eviction either we have agreement or not...
Thank you...your help will be appreciated....


I have no Idea why I am able to EDIT THIS, but obviously I can????

[annjd]

help

[OHlandlord]

You need to contact a legal aide organization or a tenant's rights organization in your area. There may even be one at your school (call student services and ask). You should not be charged for the plumbing problems if the problem was caused by old piping. You need to see a copy of the actual bill, not a copy of her cancelled check to a plumber since that check may not even be to pay for plumbing at that address (it could be for plumbing at some other unit). The bill should show your address, what was done, and state that it was the tenant's fault for the repair if you are to be charged for it. You are entitled to a copy of the actual bill if you are being asked to pay for it.

It sounds like you had a stopped up drain and put a drain cleaner down it. The pipe had broken in the wall or floor and the water then went into the downstairs unit. She entered without notice in the emergency (as is her right) and you stopped the water immediately. Unless the drain cleaner was responsible for the broken pipe (and it shouldn't have been unless there was something wrong with that pipe before you put it in there), you should not be charged for this. I am assuming you used a standard drain cleaner (that you obtained at any hardware store, grocery, or big box store) and not some special type of cleaner that was not rated for those pipes.

Additionally, if you are being asked to leave for non-payment of this bill, a notice to vacate for non-payment should be 30 days in length, not 10 days in NJ. I could find no statute for the amount of time needed to vacate if you are simply being told she will not renew your monthly agreement.

I urge you to contact legal help in this matter. I believe you are being taken advantage of since you are not from this country. Please contact one of the organizations listed above for low cost or free legal help.

[naz51]

Thank you for your kind and detailed answer which is a big help for us....we are happy to know much about our rights and liabilities now.. also in our country laws and rights about rentals nearly same in basic..
Many Thanks to you again and to the WorldLaw forums that gives us opportunity to find answers to our questions so quickly..