By Michael J. Jurista, Esq. | Jurista Law LLC | Warren, NJ
You’ve won your eviction case. You have a Judgment of Possession. The warrant for removal has been posted. Then your tenant shows up with a check — not for everything they owe, just for the amount in the judgment. Under the current state of New Jersey law, you may be required to accept it, dismiss the eviction, and start over if you want to collect what’s still outstanding.
The New Jersey Supreme Court just agreed to decide whether that’s correct.
The Law That Created This Problem
The Stack Amendment — enacted in 2020 and codified at N.J.S.A. 2A:42-10.16a — gives tenants a three-business-day window after a lockout or warrant is posted to make a rent payment that voids the eviction entirely. The law was intended to protect tenants from permanent displacement over financial emergencies. But it left open a question that landlords have been fighting over ever since: what exactly does the tenant have to pay?
In Fairkings Partners, LLC v. Essence L. Daniels, decided December 8, 2025, the Appellate Division held that the answer is the amount in the Judgment of Possession — nothing more. If rent continued to accrue after the judgment was entered, the tenant does not have to pay that additional amount to invoke the statute’s protection. The landlord who accepted the JOP-amount payment was required to dismiss the eviction. Any separately accrued rent would need to be pursued in a new action.
The landlord in that case argued the opposite: that the tenant should have to pay all rent actually due at the time of the payment, not just the frozen amount from a judgment entered weeks or months earlier. The Appellate Division rejected that position, noting that the statute’s three-day window made it practically impossible to comply with an amount that kept changing.
The New Jersey Supreme Court granted certification on June 2, 2026. Briefing is underway. A decision is expected by late 2026.
What This Means for Landlords Right Now
The Appellate Division’s ruling is currently controlling law in New Jersey. That means a tenant who invokes the Stack Amendment within three business days of a lockout, and tenders the amount in the Judgment of Possession, has — under the current rule — done what the law requires to void the eviction. A landlord who refuses a compliant payment faces a $500 penalty under N.J.S.A. 46:8-49.3.
If the Supreme Court reverses, the calculation changes. A tenant would need to pay a higher figure — the actual amount owed as of the payment date — to stop the eviction. That’s a more demanding standard, and one that more tenants would fail to meet.
But the Supreme Court has not yet issued that decision. Until it does, the law is what the Appellate Division said it is.
Why This Matters Even If You Don’t Have a Case Right Now
If you’re a Somerset County landlord and you’re deciding whether to file for eviction, how aggressively to pursue a matter through the warrant stage, or how to respond to a late-arriving payment from a tenant after judgment, you’re operating in a legal environment that is actively shifting. The right strategy today may look different from the right strategy in six months.
That’s not a reason to wait. Delayed evictions compound losses. It is a reason to have counsel who’s tracking these developments, understands how they interact with the specific facts of your case, and can advise you on the implications as they unfold. If you’re still weighing whether to file, our Somerset County eviction guide covers where cases typically go wrong — and what a properly handled matter looks like from filing through trial.
Jurista Law LLC handles Somerset County non-payment evictions for a flat $1,000 attorney fee, complaint through trial. If you have a case in progress, a judgment you’re trying to enforce, or questions about how the Stack Amendment applies to your situation, start with a consultation.
Start your case or book a consultation at juristalawllc.com →
This article is for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice.
