OPEX REALTY MANAGEMENT, LLC, PLAINTIFF, v. ROBERT TAYLOR AND MILDRED TAYLOR, DEFENDANTS., 460 N.J. Super. 287

Summary

ISSUE: Where the landlord claimed late and legal fees as rent in a superior court dispossess action pursuant to the terms of the lease, whether the landlord was entitled to deny that the total amount of "rent" imposed upon the tenants was not subject to local rent control ordinances, specifically, Newark, N.J., Rev. Gen. Ordinances §§ 19:2-3.1 and 3.2. HOLDINGS: [1]-The landlord was not entitled to circumvent the rent control ordinance and raise the rent beyond the lawful limits by labeling a late fee or legal fee as "additional rent" because Newark, N.J., Rev. Gen. Ordinances § 19:2-2 did not expressly include or exclude late and legal fees within the definition of rent, and late and legal fees as "additional rent" should not form the basis for a judgment for possession unless expressly authorized by the rent control ordinance.