You have no signed lease at this point. Perhaps they could be viewed as trespassers and you may be able to get them out with police assistance. Arguably, however, they are month to month tenants. In that case, you would have to evict them through the summary eviction process of the Superior Court. In actuality, that is the safest way for you to proceed. Under these circumstances, I would not offer them any written lease at all. Better to get rid of this trouble early and now!

Keep in mind that this advice is given based on the little bit of information that you have provided in your question. My advice may change based on other information. Further, no one can rely on advice from an attorney who has not been retained. You cannot rely on this advice because we have not personally met and you have not retained me as an attorney. If you have not already done so, you should immediately meet with an attorney who is experienced in landlord/tenant law for a full consultation before you take any further steps. You may feel free to call me to discuss this matter in more detail. If you do so, mention Law Guru and your first one hour of time will be free. Good luck!

Rob Gleaner

Unless this is a friend or family member, even if you have never leased a place out before, you must be an idiot! It is pretty simple, you give them a lease IF they sign it and give you rent you give them the key. You just created a big problem for yourself. Any judge is going to assume you were trying to do something shady, like giving them a changed lease, and try to compell them to sign it after they already moved in. If they read it on your computer, you could have e-mailed the lease or just printed it out. Your "story" stinks. Do not expect ANY sympathy from ANY judge. Generaly, a lease or a hold over tenant will be considered a month to month lease. Now, because you were such a bone head, they can sit there until you evict them, and I'd expect a judge, depending on how sympathetic they are to give them a month or two to look for another place to live, and it is unlikly that you will get any sympathy or money. I suggest you get an attorney, who can try to "sell" or "spin" this a little to try to make you less of a target. In the future, do things the right way, and don't play any games.

It is not to your advantage to have a month-to-month lease with a difficult tenant. New Jersey law makes it hard to evict tenants except for non-payment of rent or really bad behavior. (See my web site for a course that I teach at Camden County College on the subject.) So, if you think that this tenant is going to be trouble, then you may not want to offer a lease at all. That said, I can't tell from your description whether you have a difficult tenant or if you are just not communicating well. You need to make that decision.

See also: http://info.corbettlaw.net/lawguru.htm