Jersey City OK’s Right-to-Counsel Program Funded by Developers

Within three years, tenants facing eviction in Jersey City will have access to free legal representation — paid for by real estate developers.

The Jersey City Council approved two measures Wednesday: one that creates the right-to-counsel program, and another that establishes a new fee on market-rate residential projects to help fund it.

“This is a critical step in fixing our affordable housing crisis, balancing our budget, and investing in critical services to keep Jersey City residents in their homes,” Council member James Solomon, one of the bill’s sponsors, said in a statement.

The new fee on residential projects requires developers to pay 1.5 percent of the assessed value of the land they build on, or — in cases where a structure is demolished and replaced or significantly expanded — 1.5 percent of the increase in the property’s assessed value. New Jersey state law already requires municipalities to collect a 2.5 percent fee on commercial developments to help pay for affordable housing.

The measures create a new Division of Tenants’ Right to Counsel in the city, headed by an attorney licensed to practice in New Jersey who will be charged with implementing the right-to-counsel program by Jan. 1, 2026.

Officials estimate that the new fees, once fully rolled out, could generate $4 million annually for the program, which would fund legal representation for 1,500 residents and provide legal consultations for any others facing eviction.

Free legal assistance will be reserved for those making up to 80 percent of the area median income. But the bill allows the director to expand legal assistance to those earning more than that, as long as the money for their defense does not come from the development fees.

The new fee will be phased in gradually, starting at .5 percent for projects approved between July 31, 2023, and June 30, 2024, then bumping up to 1 percent for those approved between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025. The fee reaches 1.5 percent starting July 1, 2025.

Eighty percent of that money will be dedicated to the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which can be used for emergency rental assistance, repair programs for landlords and affordable housing construction. The remaining 20 percent would go to legal representation for tenants.

Right to Counsel JC, a coalition backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, which spearheaded the bill, had pushed for universal access to the program. The group is hopeful that the financing mechanism will help avoid some of the issues seen in New York City, where access to such free representation has been limited by a lack of funding.

Ron Simoncini, executive director of the Jersey City Property Owners Association, said officials’ projections incorrectly assume that the new fee will not deter developers from building residential projects.

Solomon said he expects the impact on construction to be minimal, but said “if the market hits a sustained downturn, it’s something we’d certainly look at.” He noted that other jurisdictions in the state have enacted residential development fees, including nearby Hoboken and Union City.

Simoncini said the city should not be providing free legal representation for tenants in straightforward non-payment cases, and that elected officials are ignoring how rent arrears piled up as tenants took advantage of eviction moratoriums during the pandemic.

He is hopeful that landlords can push the Council to apply a test to identify tenants who are most in need of free legal representation. The measure does have some wiggle room for prioritizing tenants, in the event funding is limited.

“Are there cases where landlords are predatory and attempt to get tenants out? Yes. Solve for that,” he said.

Simoncini also thinks landlords should be reimbursed in cases where they ultimately prevail against tenants with free representation.

“They are protecting the tenant,” he said. “They should protect us too.”