hotel guest or tenant?

[ses6286]

i have a very tough situation

i payed for 3 months "Long Term Lodging" at an Extended Stay America (almost $3,000) and the first month was fine

i had one neighbor next to me and one above me and neither complained about me

at the beginning of the second month a new guest moved in on my other side and began
complaining that i was too noisy and the noise was emanating, without a doubt, supposedly specifically from my room

the onsite manager warned me about it and i said i would be very quiet but also that it is a
hotel and i believe guests should have reasonable expectations

a day later the regional manager strongly cautioned me using aggressive language

my new neighbor continued complaining specifically about me (although i've never met this person)

two days later the regional manager called and told me in very aggressive language that they
would have to ask me to leave the premises and i would have 24 hours but he didn't say anything about "or else............."

i know i didn't make the noise after the warning from management and i'm worried about it

i just was released from the army with an honorable discharge after coming back from Iraq with various decorations and i'm a person of good character

i read that there is new legislation that says that- normally hotel guests are not protected by the landlord tenant laws - unless the person has no other domicile and it's for an extended period of time like several months

i also have a service related disability

i wasn't required to pay any sales tax on the stay because it was for at least 90 days and i believe hotel guests usually must pay sales tax but tenants don't pay sales tax?

i talked to the onsite manager and she said maybe she could put me in another room and
i said "that's fine" she said that the next day i could move into another room i was waiting to hear from her about when she wanted me to move-a few days passed and i didn't hear from her

now i'm receiving more aggressive voicemails from the regional manager but he never says
what he will do if i don't leave

it's very surprising because i believe they have corporate clients and it's shocking

i'm wondering-could the nj landlord tenant laws protect me?

[Eagle]

Did you sign an agreement when you moved in? If so how does it describe your relationship with Extended Stay?

[ses6286]

i only signed a "Folio Receipt" that says -

LONG TERM LODGING

payments $2700

arrival 4/20/2009

departure 7/19/2009

The above rate is based on your length of stay as stated on this folio.
Any variance to your actual departure date can result in a daily adjustment that will be reflected in total room charges on your bill.




i also found an interesting related case at RUTGERS Law-


excerpt:



Plaintiffs resided in the hotel for about two years prior to March 19, 1993, when the hotel was closed for extensive renovations and repairs mandated by the State due to serious health and safety violations. The State provided plaintiffs with relocation benefits which enabled them to move into an apartment in Passaic. Following the partial reopening of the hotel, plaintiffs moved back on October 2, 1993, receiving rent assistance from a local welfare agency. McNeill testified that they intended to stay at the hotel until they had enough money to move elsewhere but had no specific time frame in mind. On February 3, 1994, plaintiffs were locked out of their room because they had failed to pay rent for two weeks. At the trial, McNeill testified they owed only one week's rent.







The record reflects that the hotel's policy is to retain its status as a hotel permitting only transient guests to occupy units to avoid having to pursue eviction proceedings to remove undesirable residents. Toward that end, the hotel requires guests to sign a registration form stating: "I intend to be a transient guest here and it may be that I will stay for an extended period of time, but I will not nor do I intend to ever become a permanent tenant." McNeill signed, but claimed she did not read, the registration form. Defendant's representative testified that McNeill could have stayed indefinitely as long as she paid her bill and signed the form every week stating that she did not intend to become a permanent tenant.







On appeal, McNeill contends she was not a transient guest,






that the hotel was her permanent home and, therefore, she was a "tenant" protected by the Anti-Eviction Act.

N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1 to -61.12. As earlier noted, we agree. The Anti-Eviction Act does not protect an occupant of a "hotel, motel or other guest house or part thereof [who is] a transient guest or seasonal tenant." (emphasis added)

N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1.







The Anti-Eviction Act, however, does not define the term "transient." Therefore, we look to other sources in order to interpret the statute. The regulations governing hotels and multiple dwellings define the term "transient" as "occupancy for not more than 90 days by a person having a principal residence elsewhere."

N.J.A.C. 5:10-2.2.







The Anti-Eviction Act defines the term "permanent" as an occupancy in which "the occupant maintains no other domicile at which the occupant votes, pays rent or property taxes or at which rent or property taxes are paid on the occupant's behalf." (emphasis added)

N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1.







As Judge Kole noted in In re Accounts of Unanue, 255


N.J. Super. 362, 374 (Law Div. 1991) (quoting Kurilla v. Roth, 132 N.J.L. 213, 215 (Sup. Ct. 1944)), "[d]omicile" is defined as "the place where [a person] has his true, fixed, permanent home and principal establishment, and to which whenever he is absent, he has the intention of returning, and from which he has no present intention of moving."






In Williams v. Alexander Hamilton Hotel, 249

N.J. Super. 481 (App. Div. 1991), we afforded Anti-Eviction Act protections to a family that had resided for two and one-half years in a hotel unit with the intention of remaining "for an indefinite period of time

[ses6286]

thank you very much Administrator


i forgot to add the part where the court said that her signature every two weeks

stating that she had no intention of becoming a permanent resident was an

"adhesion" ? ? ? so it shouldn't be an important factor in the case

[Eagle]

Wow, you really did some great research on the issue. I don't think you will have to deal with these questions of law until the manager actually tries to kick you out. And even if the NJ landlord tenant laws do not proved you protection you can always sue for breach or contract ff you are wrongfully evicted.

Maybe you should contact someone higher in the organization and explain the situtaion to him/her. Explain how much of a schmuck the regional manager is. In this crappy economy any right minded business should do everything possible to keep a customer happy.

[ses6286]

Administrator-thank you so much for the legal insight


it seems to me it's not just the regional manager-


today when i went to pick up my mail at the front desk after i had returned from a busy day the

lady at the front desk said that the regional manager had been at the hotel "looking for me" and

"wanted to talk to me" and "had knocked on my door" she seemed very happy to say it and it

was almost like what she was really saying was:


"it looks like you a had a nice day, guess what, i've got some bad news for you"

(with a big smile on her face)

[ses6286]

and i forgot to mention i found this document/notice on Sales Tax and Permanent Residency
i wasn't charged sales tax because the stay was for 90 days





Notice: Permanent Resident Exemption for Sales Tax and State Occupancy Fee/Municipal Occupancy Tax



This Notice is to supplement the information in the Notice to New Jersey Lodging
Facilities, dated 7/8/03 and revised 7/25/03, the State Occupancy Fee and the Municipal Occupancy Tax is not imposed on the rental of a room to a guest who
who qualifies as a permanent resident.





The Sales and Use Tax Act imposes tax on "the rent for every occupancy of a room
or rooms in a hotel in this State, except that the tax shall not be imposed upon
(1) a permanent resident, or (2) where the rent is not more than $2 per day."

N.J.S.A. 54:32B-3 (d)







With regard to a permanent resident, the law states "any occupant of any room in a hotel for at least 90 consecutive days shall be considered a permanent resident with regard to the period of such occupancy."

N.J.S.A. 54:32B- 2(m)






Therefore, sales tax is not imposed on the rental charge for a room occupied by a
permanent resident. Since the State Occupancy Fee and the Municipal Occupancy Tax are administered in conjunction with the New Jersey Sales and Use Tax Act, the State Occupancy Fee and Municipal Occupancy Tax are also not due in this situation.