Is a Rent Control Referendum Coming to Hoboken?

HOBOKEN, NJ - Hoboken residents may soon be asked to cast their votes in a referendum on rent control as a petition to trigger one, organized by a group of local landlords, has gathered more than enough signatures to place the matter on the ballot.

The Petition will need to be submitted to the City and the signatures certified first, after which legislators will have the chance to reach a compromise with the Committee of Petitioners to avoid the referendum.

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If no compromise is reached, however, residents will be asked to go to the polls.

Behind the petition is the Mile Square Taxpayers Association (MSTA), a landlord group that is seeking to change the Rent Control Ordinance .

The petition calls for allowing vacancy de-control in exchange for the landlords making a contribution of $2,500 to the Trust Fund to build affordable housing. Vacancy de-control refers to housing units losing their rent-controlled status and being priced at market rate once the tenant voluntarily moves out.

The MSTA have argued that this allows for a compromise between landlords and tenant advocates whereby funds are being put toward creating more affordable housing in Hoboken while providing vacancy de-control in a rent-controlled environment that they say is too hostile.

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The MSTA have also said that the current Rent Control Ordinance does not provide affordable housing for those who need it, and that their proposal is providing funds for affordable housing, which the group claims the City has failed to do.

Critics, meanwhile, have argued that this would essentially gut rent control in Hoboken , by resulting in rent-controlled homes being set at market rate after the existing tenant moves out, therefore making them unaffordable for many.

Critics have also said it would create incentives for landlords to engage in 'constructive eviction, a practice whereby tenants are pushed out of their rent-controlled homes through neglect.

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