Carpet clause in apartment lease

On Nov 5, 9:45 am, sunil <sunilsreenivas2...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>  I live in a rented apartment in jersey city, new jersey

I am not a NJ lawyer and don't know any specific NJ law.   These are general comments for discussion purposes.

> I read the lease and saw following sentence:
> Quote " During his occupancy, the TENANT, if required by LANDLORD,
> will keep covered atleast 80% of the living quarters with carpeting
> or other floor covering.
<snip>
> My question is:
>  a)Legally do you guys think above statement means I should pay from
> my pocket for carpeting.

Yes.   Buy cheap throw rugs at a yard sale, or remnants from a carpet store, or Tatami mats, or a fine Persian original, your choice.   But you are obligated to keep some kind of fabric covering on 80% of your bare wood floors if the landlord asks you to.

>  b)Is there any NJ law that states how to deal with this?

If so, it probably agrees with the landlord (who, as you say, runs a mega-complex of apts. and surely vetted their lease language with their lawyers to make sure it complies with local law)

>  c)I obviously dont want to spend lot of money in place where I am
> going to stay for 1-2 yrs atmost.

So do it cheaply.

> I definitely dont want to do proper carpeting

It doesn't say you should install wall-to-wall.   In fact the landlord MAY NOT WANT you to do that.   They want you to put down _portable_ carpets or rugs or mats that you will then take with you when you move.  The landlord wants you to do this to muffle the sounds of your feet moving over your bare wood floor, not to enhance your decor.

> but lets say  I want to be good tenant and will buy some
> area rugs, do you think thats a good choice....

Buy any kind of floor covering you want and can afford.  Get something that agrees with your decor, if that matters to you, or just buy carpet scraps from a carpet store (they may even give you some for free) if your idea of decorating is brick-and-board bookcases, a tower of beer cans in the corner and pizza boxes artfully arranged on the footlocker you're using for a coffee table.

<snip>

>  d)Can apt mgmt throw me out for this reason?

Yes.

> even after we do c)(We
> will try our best to keep noise level minimum  but still the people
> below may continue to feel inconvenient, also they bought the apt
> below and are feeling like they are royalty and the guy told me he
> will threaten to undo buying of the apartment on this grounds, which
> obviously our apt mgmt will try to stop)

If you are in compliance with the lease they can't throw you out for breaching that term of the lease.  But that doesn't guarantee they won't find some other basis to throw you out, if they are determined to do so.  ISTM you don't have to cross that bridge yet; just get some floor covering for Pete's sake and quit worrying about what "might" happen.

>  I just think this is a problem even we face from the people above us

In that case, you should complain and make sure the landlord checks that the people above _you_ have complied with the lease re: floor covering.

> and I dont think its a uncommon/nuisance kind of things.

You're comparing apples and oranges.  First, it is in fact quite common for leases of multistory apts. with bare wood floors to include a clause requiring the tenant to furnish some floor coverings.  And it doesn't matter whether having uncovered floors is legally a "nuisance" or not; your lease specifically requires you to do this, so you have to comply with the terms you contractually agreed to follow or else you are in breach of your lease.


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Mike Jacobs
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