What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ
A friend of mine has been renting a townhouse to 3 guys who are in their early 20s and are not related to each other. They signed the lease in November 2008 for one year, but suddenly decided to abandon the place. They last paid rent in February. They also had changed the locks without notifying my friend. One of the tenants sent an e-mail saying he was sorry but he could not pay any longer because he lost his job and said all 3 of them are moving out. The other two tenants have not contacted my friend at all. The guy who did notify my friend gave him a key, so my friend (with his lawyer's consent) went into the place and found that they damaged the walls, tore the doors off the closets, left a lot of junk in there and broke the garage door. Since the other 2 tenants have not notified my friend that they are moving out, the lawyer said there's nothing they can do right now as far as getting them evicted, but couldn't my friend give them a deadline and if their stuff isn't out by then it's being thrown out? It seems like my friend is in limbo and can't look for new tenants or make repairs until these people decide to write a letter. My friend has tried to contact them (and their parents) but they've been non-responsive.
A friend of mine has been renting a townhouse to 3 guys who are in their early 20s and are not related to each other. They signed the lease in November 2008 for one year, but suddenly decided to abandon the place. They last paid rent in February. They also had changed the locks without notifying my friend. One of the tenants sent an e-mail saying he was sorry but he could not pay any longer because he lost his job and said all 3 of them are moving out. The other two tenants have not contacted my friend at all. The guy who did notify my friend gave him a key, so my friend (with his lawyer's consent) went into the place and found that they damaged the walls, tore the doors off the closets, left a lot of junk in there and broke the garage door. Since the other 2 tenants have not notified my friend that they are moving out, the lawyer said there's nothing they can do right now as far as getting them evicted, but couldn't my friend give them a deadline and if their stuff isn't out by then it's being thrown out? It seems like my friend is in limbo and can't look for new tenants or make repairs until these people decide to write a letter. My friend has tried to contact them (and their parents) but they've been non-responsive.