A group called the Mile-Square Taxpayers Association issued a press release Wednesday afternoon about a motion that was filed in Superior Court to stop the city of Hoboken from performing “rent calculations.” “Rent calculations” are often performed at the request of tenants so they can figure out what their rents should be (and what they should have been in the past) under the city’s rent control ordinance.The process has been somewhat controversial in the past. Sometimes tenants have discovered that they had been paying too much rent, and have successfully sued to receive hundreds or thousands of dollars in back rent from their landlords. Some property owners believe that it is unfair for tenants to get years and years of back rent that they never complained about in the past.
The city’s rent control ordinance limits most rent increases to a few percent each year in buildings built before 1987. However, some landlords and tenants don’t know about or don’t follow the rule, until they learn about it later.
The release issued today notes: “The Order to Show Cause to stop rent calculations by the Rent Control Board was filed today with Superior Court Judge Shirley Tolentino, who scheduled a return date of May 4 to require the City to show cause why an injunction against the practice should not be issued. This is the first time a case has challenged the impact of the City’s administration of the rent control ordinance on all property owners.”
In the release, attorney Charles Gormally says, “Hoboken’s Rent Leveling and Stabilization Board now declares rents that have been in place for years illegal if its property file does not contain so-called vacancy decontrol forms. However, for 25 years the office did not require the forms and it acknowledges that at many times it refused to accept them even when offered. Attorneys for tenants have been treating the situation like a windfall, because they know the city’s retroactive and unconstitutional procedure for calculating rent ignores whether the property owner is legally entitled to the rent. It’s as though you could be convicted for driving without a license when you’re not even in your car.”
The taxpayer association’s director, Ron Simoncini, says, “Although the situation is clearly the result of incompetent administration of the Ordinance, neither the City nor the Rent Office has the political courage to correct it. The Council actually resolved the problem in 2006 by passing an amendment to the ordinance, but a small, vocal group of tenants threatened a referendum and the Council rescinded its position and allowed a manifest injustice to continue.”
Gormally also said the city exploits property owners with the rent control ordinance.
He noted, “This is another example of why Hoboken is in the hands of a state-appointed monitor –the fiscal health of the City is willfully compromised by elected officials for some misperceived political gain. As though a 47% tax increase were not enough, the City effectively uses these rent calculations to exploit responsible property owners and curry favor with tenants. The administration of this ordinance is the most hostile and cynical governance imaginable.”
We’re sure that Hoboken’s very vocal tenant lobby will have something to say about this! But what do YOU say? Comment below!
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