How to Evict a Roommate in New Jersey (and Other Household Situations)
What New Jersey law says about roommates who are not on the lease, guests who won't leave, family members, renting a room in your own home, and tenancies at will — each with the statute or official source.
Short answer: No statute defines the status of a roommate who is not on the lease. New Jersey's eviction law protects not only the lessee or tenant but also the tenant's 'assigns, under-tenants or legal representatives', so a subtenant is covered by the same removal rules. N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1
| Roommate not on the lease | No statute defines the status of a roommate who is not on the lease. New Jersey's eviction law protects not only the lessee or tenant but also the tenant's 'assigns, under-tenants or legal representatives', so a subtenant is covered by the same removal rules. Whether an occupant is a tenant or subtenant depends on the facts and the lease. Source: N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1 |
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| Removing a roommate or subtenant | No roommate-specific statute. Under-tenants of a lessee are covered by the Anti-Eviction Act, which allows removal only on one of its listed good-cause grounds and only through a court case. Exceptions include owner-occupied premises with not more than two rental units. In excepted premises, a tenant at will or month-to-month occupant is removed in a summary dispossess case after the notice to quit required by N.J.S.A. 2A:18-56. Source: N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1 |
| Renting a room in your own home (lodgers) | No separate lodger statute was located. Owner-occupied premises with not more than two rental units are excepted from the good-cause requirement of the Anti-Eviction Act. In those premises, the landlord may remove a tenant at will, at sufferance, or for a set term (and the tenant's undertenants) through a summary dispossess action in court after the required notice to quit. Good-cause section: https://lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/112/670?f=templates$fn=document-frame.htm$3.0. |
| Tenancy at will | Where the good-cause law does not apply, a tenant at will or at sufferance can be removed by summary dispossess after a holdover. Before a possession judgment, the landlord must prove the required notice to quit was given: three months' notice for a tenancy at will or from year to year, one month for month-to-month, and one term for other periodic tenancies. Most residential tenants are instead covered by the Anti-Eviction Act (N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1), which requires good cause. Source: N.J.S.A. 2A:18-53(a); 2A:18-56 |
| Hotel and extended-stay guests | Hotels, motels, and similar guest houses, or parts of them, rented to a transient guest or seasonal tenant are excepted from the Anti-Eviction Act's good-cause protections. The statute does not set a number of days after which a hotel guest becomes a tenant. Source: N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1 |
Never remove someone by changing the locks or taking their belongings: if the person has become a tenant, only a court can order them out. If there is violence or a threat, call 911 and ask about a protective order.
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New Jersey eviction laws · Free legal help in New Jersey · Roommate rules in other states
General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.