Landlords sue Jersey City over plan to give tenants free legal help

A group of landlords wants to overturn Jersey City’s “right-to-counsel” legislation, which would provide free lawyers to renters facing eviction by 2025.

The Jersey City Council passed a pair of ordinances last month guaranteeing low-income tenants free legal representation in housing court, using future developers’ fees to pay for it. On Wednesday, the Jersey City Property Owners’ Association sued the city, claiming the new rules exceeded the city’s taxing authority and its municipal powers conferred by the state.

“It’s a tremendous intrusion into private contractual rights,” said Charles Gormally, an attorney representing the association.

The civil complaint was filed in Hudson County Superior Court and alleges the city is creating a new form of taxation that only benefits a group of private residents: tenants who make 80% or less of the area's median income and are eligible for free counsel.

Councilmember James Solomon, who sponsored the legislation in April, expressed outrage at the legal challenge.

“You want to sue your way out of your responsibilities to tenants, Jersey City residents, and the city that allowed you to make the profits you’re using to fund this suit against us? You want to waste your time and money on this frivolous lawsuit?" Solomon said in a statement. "Fine. See you in court."

He said the ordinances will level the playing field in housing court, where few tenants have lawyers, while landlords are usually represented. Only 3% of tenants have lawyers during eviction proceedings, according to the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel. Renters with attorneys are far more likely to keep their homes, data shows.

Gormally said New Jersey already has strong tenant protections and requires landlords to go to court to file eviction cases.

“The state legislature created substantive rights for tenants,” he said. “What they didn’t create was a right to free counsel. … It’s certainly well-intentioned but it's not necessary and an excessive use of authority they don’t have.”

New York City and Newark have similar right-to-counsel programs, though they remain rare nationwide.

Julia Tache, an organizer with the Right to Counsel JC Coalition, called the suit a “baseless attempt to further disempower renters.”

“We cannot let a few rich and powerful real estate players determine policy that impacts the over 70% of people who rent in our city, and we demand the county dismiss the lawsuit while we continue to fight for tenants’ rights,” she said in a statement.