Landlords Sue Jersey City Over Right-to-Counsel

Landlords are striking up a fight one month after Jersey City approved measures regarding a right-to-counsel.

The Jersey City Property Owners Association, a landlord group in the city, filed a lawsuit to stop implementation of the program, NJ.com reported. Jersey Digs was first to report the lawsuit.

The Jersey City Council did not have the right to create the program, the JCPOA claims in its lawsuit, adding that right to counsel is not part of “New Jersey’s expansive rights to appointed counsel for litigants within the state.”

Furthermore, the tenant-landlord relationship is not fundamental in nature, but contractual, according to the lawsuit. Finally, the lawsuit states the program is in conflict with the state’s “Just Cause Eviction Act.”

Differing local policies leave a wide disparity in legal representation favoring landlords versus tenants in eviction cases. Jersey City last month addressed the gulf by approving a right-to-counsel program and a measure that establishes a fee on market-rate residential projects — paid for by developers — to fund the program.

The fee requires developers to pay 1.5 percent of the assessed value of the land they build on or 1.5 percent of the increase in the property’s assessed value, in cases of demolition or significant expansion. State law already requires municipalities to take a 2.5 percent fee on commercial projects, earmarked for affordable housing.

The right-to-counsel program isn’t set to be implemented until the beginning of 2026. Officials estimate the fees could generate $4 million annually for the program and help fund legal representation for 1,500 residents. Free legal assistance will be for those earning up to 80 percent of the area median income.

When the measures passed, JCPOA executive director Ron Simoncini said officials were making a false assumption that the fee wouldn’t deter residential development in the city. He added that landlords deserved to be reimbursed in cases where they prevail against tenants who utilize free representation.

Councilperson James Solomon, who championed right-to-counsel, dismissed the suit as “frivolous.”

“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?” Solomon said in a statement. “You want to waste your time and money on this frivolous lawsuit?”

“Fine. See you in court.”

— Holden Walter-Warner