5. Rent Receivership
The law promoting safe and sanitary housing for tenants of substandard dwellings
(N.J.S.A. 2A:42-85, et seq.) was enacted after the Berzito decision. The law authorizes
tenants in substandard dwelling units to deposit their rents with a court-appointed
administrator for use in remedying defective conditions. If there is a difference in the
market value of the premises in its defective condition and the amount of rent that the
tenant paid to the court administrator, the tenant may be entitled to a rent abatement and
may only be charged the reasonable rental value of the property in its imperfect
condition. To use this remedy, a tenant or housing inspector may file a complaint in the
court of the municipality in which the property is located.
In the case of Park Hill Terrace v. Glennon, Mitnick, and Stoff, 146 N.J. Super. 68, the court
held that air conditioning was a part of the original tenancy and that its failure affected the
habitability of the premises.
Note: Not every defect or inconvenience is considered a breach of the warranty of habitability.
Each case must be judged on it own facts. To avoid eviction, any rent withheld by the tenant
should be saved and accessible in case the court requires the tenant to pay the outstanding
rent.
In emergency situations created by the landlord or resulting from his negligence, the landlord
may be responsible to bear a tenant’s expenses in obtaining alternative housing during the
emergency. Expenses may be deducted from the rent. However, the expenses must be
reasonable.