Miah v. Ahmed

846 A.2d 1244, 179 N.J. 511, 2004 N.J. LEXIS 470
CourtSupreme Court of New Jersey
DecidedMay 11, 2004
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 846 A.2d 1244 (Miah v. Ahmed) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Miah v. Ahmed, 846 A.2d 1244, 179 N.J. 511, 2004 N.J. LEXIS 470 (N.J. 2004).

Opinion

*515 JUSTICE ZAZZALI

delivered the opinion of the Court.

In this case a landlord evicted his tenant from an attic apartment after the municipality in which the apartment was located determined that the unit violated a local zoning ordinance. Because the eviction resulted from zoning-ordinance enforcement for an illegal apartment, N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1h required the landlord to provide the displaced tenant with relocation-assistance benefits five days prior to removal. We granted certification to determine how the amount of relocation assistance should be calculated and whether that amount is subject to setoff for unpaid rent and other that the landlord might have against the tenant. 177 N.J. 493, 828 A.2d 920 (2003).

In view of the unambiguous statutory language, we conclude that N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1h entitles displaced tenants to relocation assistance in an amount equal to six times the tenant’s monthly rent. We also hold that the public-policy objectives reflected in N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1h preclude reductions or setoffs for unpaid rent or other damages.

I.

At the outset, we note that the incomplete factual record in this appeal obscures an already complex procedural history. Nonetheless, the following summary presents the essential elements of what transpired.

Defendant Shiraj Ahmed (tenant) and his wife, Denise Ahmed, rented an attic apartment in Paterson for $450 per month from plaintiff Kona Miah (landlord). The couple had lived in the apartment for approximately seven to eight years when the City of Paterson determined that the dwelling violated a local zoning ordinance. After learning that the apartment was illegal, the landlord sent a notice to the tenant in November 2001, indicating that the tenant had to vacate the premises by March 2002, and informing him that he may be entitled to relocation assistance. It is unclear from the record whether the tenant received that notice and, if so, when that notice was received.

*516 At some point thereafter, the tenant stopped paying rent while continuing to reside in the apartment. In response, the landlord filed a complaint in the Special Civil Part against the tenant for unjust enrichment based on the tenant’s failure to pay rent. The face of that complaint suggests that it was served on the tenant in January 2002.

When the tenant had not vacated the apartment by March 2002, the landlord filed a separate eviction complaint seeking the tenant’s removal. Although unclear from the record, the trial court apparently stayed the disposition of the landlord’s Special Civil Part action pending resolution of the eviction proceeding. On April 4 and 5, 2002, a trial was held with respect to the eviction action. Neither the tenant nor his wife appeared on the first day of trial. The following day, April 5, Mrs. Ahmed, the tenant’s wife, appeared without the assistance of counsel. She testified that she suffered from lung cancer and did not attend the April 4 hearing because she recently had been released from the hospital. She stated that after learning that the apartment was illegal, she located three available apartments. She explained, however, that she lost the opportunity to rent those apartments because the landlord failed to provide her with relocation assistance.

Interpreting N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1h (section h) to require a lump-sum payment equal to six times the monthly rent, the trial court ordered the landlord to deposit $2700 with the court as a condition precedent to the entry of a Warrant of Removal. In compliance with that order, the landlord promptly posted the $2700, and a Warrant of Removal was issued with a lockout date of May 2, 2002.

On May 2, 2002, the day of the lockout, the tenant filed an order to show cause seeking a stay of the eviction because he had not received the relocation-assistance funds. During the hearing that ensued, the tenant informed the trial court that his wife had died of lung cancer the prior week. The tenant explained that because his wife was primarily responsible for matters relating to the *517 apartment, he was unaware that $2700 had been on deposit with the court clerk since April.

After learning that the tenant never received the relocation funds, the trial court ordered immediate dispersal of the money and gave the tenant an additional seven days to vacate the premises. In issuing that order, the court denied the landlord’s request for a stay pending a hearing to determine the tenant’s actual relocation expenses and pending resolution of the landlord’s unjust-enrichment claim. Because the court interpreted section h to require a fixed payment equal to six times the tenant’s monthly rent, it determined that an actual-expense hearing was unnecessary. The court also concluded that holding the funds for a determination of the landlord’s separate claim for unpaid rent “would fly in the face of the purpose of the statute.” To ensure that the tenant’s receipt of the funds and his eviction were not subject to further delays, the trial judge took steps to facilitate release of the money by directing his secretary to contact the court’s finance department.

On May 3, 2002, the court clerk issued a check to the tenant for $2,700. That same day, the landlord made a motion for emergent relief before the Appellate Division. The appellate court granted the motion and entered an order staying the turnover of the relocation funds pending determination of the landlord’s appeal. However, by the time the order was entered, the court clerk already had dispersed the money to the tenant, who had cashed the check at a check-cashing store. On May 10, 2002, the Warrant of Removal was executed but, by that date, the tenant had vacated the apartment.

On May 28, 2002, the tenant filed a motion with the Appellate Division, requesting that that court vacate its May 3 order staying the dispersal of the relocation-assistance benefits. In an order dated June 19, 2002, the panel denied the tenant’s motion and referred the matter back to the trial court to “effectuate a restoration of the funds pending a determination of this appeal.” What happened on remand is unclear. It appears, however, that *518 the trial court directed that the funds be returned to the clerk of the court, but then stayed the entry of that order to permit the tenant to appeal.

Thereafter, in a published opinion critical of the trial court’s conduct, the Appellate Division reversed. Miah v. Ahmed, 359 N.J.Super. 151, 819 A.2d 440 (2003). The panel held that section h limited the landlord’s obligation to relocation expenses actually incurred by the tenant up to, but not exceeding, six months of rent. Id. at 158, 819 A.2d at 444. In addition, the appellate court found error in the trial court’s refusal to allow the landlord to offset the relocation-assistance payment by the amount of past-due rent owed by the tenant. Id. at 156, 819 A.2d at 443. The panel remanded the case to a different judge for further findings on the actual costs of the tenant’s relocation. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
846 A.2d 1244, 179 N.J. 511, 2004 N.J. LEXIS 470, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miah-v-ahmed-nj-2004.