Return Of 'Delivered Vacant' In Hoboken? Longtime Renters Fear Demolition, Displacement

HOBOKEN, NJ — It's a true Hoboken irony.

For the last three months, people have jammed Hoboken Historical Museum events commemorating the city's tenant displacement amid gentrification 40 years ago. Yet, almost no one has spoken out at recent town meetings in which landlords are asking permission to tear down rent controlled buildings with tenants living in them, according to tenants and advocates.

People from both groups have said renters have been told by new landlords that they'll have to move out, but state law protects many tenants from having to leave — whether the buildings are rent controlled or not, and regardless of whether their lease has become month-to-month.

Landlords must have certain grounds for eviction in order to force tenants out, or to decline to renew their leases, in many types of buildings. (See the state law here.)

One longtime tenant in Hoboken said Thursday, in an interview with Patch, that she got a polite note last year from her landlord (which Patch has viewed) telling her that she had to move out in six or fewer months because he intends to make repairs to her rent-controlled building. She didn't realize at first that she actually doesn't have to leave.

The landlord has since submitted plans to the city to demolish the building and rebuild on the property.

Tenants who don't know the law, or feel too lacking in resources to fight a corporation, often give up rather than live on tense terms, advocates say.

This can cause them great economic hardship — not just from moving, but trying to find a reasonably priced place that will accept them, and in some places, changing their kids' schools.

It can also change the makeup of a town.

Teachers, Families, And Artists

Tenants say that the people who help give Hoboken its economic diversity and flavor — teachers, nurses, families, artists, retail workers — will be forced out of town if too many older buildings are lost.

The changing flavor of town has come to light before, such as when residents have argued in the last decade about the lack of diversity on town boards.

The anonymous tenant's building is rent controlled, meaning landlords can still increase the rent and pass along surcharges, but it must be increased in line with the cost of living adjustment.

This allows some measure of stabilization amid newer buildings in the housing stock, some of which charge upwards of $5,000 per month.

While developers have planned to include a few units of affordable housing when they rebuild, the existing tenants will already have had to leave.

"I think it's horrific," said the renter, who noted that her landlord wants to tear down her building on the west side of town. When told to leave, she searched for other reasonably priced apartments and couldn't find one, she said.

"I love this town," said the renter, who works full-time in the arts. "I would love to start a family here. I love Hoboken. I love its history; I love its character — not just people, but also the look of the buildings. I love fact people are born and raised here. I love that it has people of ...all social strata and income levels."

She added, "I think that these mega-buildings that come in, they're all brand new. This makes it more a bedroom community, a commuter place for the city. It doesn't feel like the character of Hoboken is being taken into account."

"I like that I live in a building built in 1901," she added. "It doesn't look like every cookie-cutter building going up."

She said she has recently met neighbors with the same landlord, who've spent years giving back to their community but may have to leave.

"I don't want to sue my landlord," she said. "I don't want to be in a fight with the person that owns my building."

She added, "I'm lucky enough that I have the means to educate myself. I come from a family of immigrants. My abuela would not be able to figure out rent control laws and fight her landlord. She would be afraid."

Local volunteer tenant advocate Cheryl Fallick — who is part of a group of unpaid advocates who've fought legal battles for decades to retain rent control in Hoboken — said last week that almost no one is speaking out publicly about plans before city boards to demolish rent controlled buildings.

Fallick said that at a recent Zoning Board hearing, only one person spoke about a demolition plan besides her.

She said, "The Zoning Board ... refused to consider the tearing down of a rent-controlled building that has tenants in residence as a 'substantial detriment to the public good' as stated in our NJ Statutes: Section N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70."

She said that the board should at least ask the landlords what they plan to do with the tenants still living in the buildings.

The aforementioned tenant said that she attended the city's recent public forum on rent control, and many landlords spoke out, but few tenants. She said landlords pleaded the case of "mom and pop" property owners.

"Every single landlord was like 'We need to make more money. What about the mom and pops?' " she said. "I thought, 'None of you are mom and pops.' I love the idea of the Hoboken mom and pop. It's not realistic anymore. All of these 'holding groups' and big corporate landlords coming in, they don't care about the community. They don't care about the character of Hoboken. They don't care about the tenants."

Indeed, over the last few years, equity firms from outside of town, and various LLC's, have bought up what used to be buildings owned by local developers familiar with the laws. In a recent case, one group tried to raise tenants' rent 30 percent until the city got involved.

• READ MORE: Jersey City And Hoboken Tenants Fight Back.
  
• READ MORE: Talks Begin After Rents Are Called 'Unconscionable'

Some smaller property owners are submitting plans to remove combinations of older housing and vacant lots and rebuild on the properties, such as this proposal on lower Madison Street.

City Can Help

The city has, for decades, employed a tenant advocate who is there to advise tenants on their rights, free of charge.

Still, the tenant believes that based on what she's experienced, the city "isn't in any way an advocate" in situations like hers.

Fallick said several tenants have reached out to her lately about being pushed out. At the same time, several plans have been submitted to local boards to tear down and replace older buildings.

Fallick said, "There was/is practically an avaricious city sanctioned mandate to insist that even discussing the possibility that any displacement/harassment of tenants ... cannot be discussed, cannot be considered" during Zoning Board hearings on proposed demolitions.

She said that when the city doesn't ask applicants who plan to demolish buildings about the tenants inside, "It's a hostile gesture on the part of the city and a way that the city is promoting ongoing displacement."

The demolitions bring up another issue.

Why The Secrecy?

In some cases, landlords and corporations have been buying up older buildings and creating a different LLC for each building. This makes it difficult for renters to know who actually owns multiple buildings, and to discuss what's happening.

In Newark last week, the City Council approved a law to force owners of buildings to register with the city, after a Rutgers report revealed that a high percentage of rental buildings have been bought by "completely anonymous investors." READ MORE: Newark Law Will Shine Light On Anonymous Corporate Home Buyers

Mayor Gets Tough In Nearby Town

In another nearby town, North Bergen, Mayor and State Sen. Nicholas Sacco has started tackling the recent ejections of tenants from a building that sold in January.

A town spokesman said last week that Sacco has directed the township’s tenant advocate, Michael Purvin, to send a letter telling tenants of 625 Kennedy Blvd. that they have the legal right to continue living there "despite any intimidation or harassment from the new owners or their representatives."

The spokesperson explained, "Since the building was purchased three months ago, a number of tenants have already vacated their apartments. Mayor Sacco is committed to ensuring landlords who violate New Jersey’s Anti-Eviction Act are held accountable for their illegal practices."

Sacco said, “We will not allow our residents to be bullied and intimidated in any way by owners or landlords who are looking to profit off of the displacement of others."

He added, "We will use every legal device in our toolbox to ensure their rights are protected and their families are secure in the knowledge they will not be forced to leave their homes."

Back in January, an announcement about the $2.5 million sale of that building gushed, "The undisclosed buyer paid cash and is now planning a renovation of the building."

In fact, the "undisclosed buyer" got a building that was "30 percent vacant at closing," the announcement says.

The new owner of that building is listed as 625 JFK JC LLC, an official said. The mailing address of the firm is in Brooklyn: 199 Lee Ave., Suite 953.

As it turns out, that address is used by more than a thousand firms, according to news accounts — and the Brooklyn building has acquired a bit of a reputation.

"Many of the companies at the address are LLCs, limited liability corporations that were created so landlords could own apartment buildings and shield themselves from lawsuits," says a damning report in Documented NY, a publication about immigrant issues.

Real estate publication Real Deal reports that the mailboxes at the building "collect rent checks and help cloak the identities of some of the city’s most mysterious property owners."

Losing Older Buildings

Fallick said that in the past, she has heard of tenants being offered tens of thousands of dollars to help with their relocation and new rental expenses, which is legal if the tenant voluntarily accepts the compensation. But in recent cases, she said, the tenant doesn't know that he or she has the right to stay or negotiate to find comparable housing and get relocation costs.

And the relocation payments may not go as far as they used to, since now, the average rent in Hoboken and Jersey City is above $4,000 per month. READ MORE: Rents In Jersey City, Hoboken Highest In Nation. But Are They Legal?

What happens when there are fewer buildings with comparable rents to move to?

A local group that has fought for landlords in Hoboken (and in other towns) offered another perspective on the teardowns.

Ron Simoncini, who runs the Mile Square Taxpayers' Association, said that he agrees with rent control in some cases, but that the character of the city is evolving, and antiquated housing stock — with old fixtures and infrastructure — needs to be renewed.

He said that tenants should always be treated fairly, and that some may feel a "shock" to get a letter from a landlord who wants to talk about moving out, but that the negotiations may prove beneficial for a tenant.

He said that he's not in favor of "aggressive" landlords who try to push tenants out, but that they're a "vast, vast, vast minority."

"What rent control is meant to prevent is that after people move into their homes, [the rent] can only be increased a certain legislated amount. If I move and my housing budget is $2,000 or it's $5,000, an only be increased by an amount that the governing body decides, usually tied to the [cost of living.]"

He said there are 8,000 rent controlled units in town, including both newer and older, lower-price units. He acknowledged that it was closer to 11,000 when he became involved in city issues decades ago.

But he said he had been in units that needed serious updating, including with electrical units and appliances older than 50 years.

"Does a landlord have an implied power over the tenant? Definitely," he said. "But for the most part, landlords are in a business where they don't want to be interfered with by regulatory authorities." So they'll negotiate fairly, he said.

He also said that for those who don't, tenants should definitely talk to the city's free tenant advocate (currently lawyer Andrew Sobel).

"The character of the city is under constant evolution," Simoncini said. "Rent control introduces a market dysfunction that provides security for way longer than places where there's not rent control."

'Delivered Vacant'

Back in the 1980s, landlords hoping to sell a building without tenants inside could boast to a seller that it would be "Delivered Vacant," according to a documentary from 1992, which is shown every few years in Hoboken (including in 2020). (See the key scenes here.)

The anonymous tenant said she's surprised city officials aren't speaking out more about the proposed teardowns, particularly with the renewed attention about past displacement.

The city did speak out publicly about the issue of surprise rent hikes in certain buildings after tenants spoke out in the media and wrote letters. These buildings have been taken over by national entities, such as at the Rivington and Park and Garden. READ MORE: Talks Begin After Hoboken Rent Hikes Are Called 'Unconscionable'

But officials haven't spoken publicly yet about the proposed teardowns, or about tenants' rights when a building is sold to new owners.

"You don't have to [physically harm] someone to ruin their life," the tenant said, referring to past displacement. "You can really do some damage to someone by tricking them out of their rent controlled home."

The dates and agendas for future Hoboken Zoning Board meetings are here.