WATCH: Tenants Of Portside Towers In Jersey City Face Rent Control Hearing

HUDSON COUNTY, NJ — For more than a year, tenants of two luxury towers on the Jersey City waterfront have maintained that their buildings, constructed in the 1990s, are not exempt from local rent control. They've also said they have faced rent hikes of 25 percent or more, which may qualify as "unconscionable" under state law.

While many municipalities in New Jersey have their own rent control laws, the state has superseding laws that determine whether certain buildings are exempt.

The state also says tenants don't have to pay an increase that's determined to be unconscionable, but they still leave it to courts to decide what qualifies.

(Some New Jersey tenants believe these laws don't apply to their building for a variety of reasons when, in fact, they do. Read more about that here.)

Jersey City ruled last year that one of the two Portside towers, Portside West, was rent controlled.

But tenants faced a new rent board hearing Thursday evening, Oct. 19, in which they sought a determination saying both towers have been under rent control for some time.

The building is run by Equity Residential, which had to roll back rents last year in another of their luxury complexes in Hoboken, after being told by that city that it fell under rent control.

Last week, Hoboken's rent board determined that yet another luxury building, Avalon Hoboken, also falls under local rent control. At that meeting, Portside Tenants' Association representative Kevin Weller said the same laws should apply in Jersey City.

Weller attended Thursday night's hearing in Jersey City. Afterward, he said that the result was a win for the tenants.

"Unanimous ruling in Portside Towers tenants’ favor! The buildings are under rent control!" posted the Portside tenants' group on Thursday night.

"Yay! We did it," wrote a commenter. "Corporate greed can be fought. Justice to the tenants of Portside!"

See these comments and watch the meeting here.

More Information

If you don't believe statewide laws about rent increases or eviction apply to you, they might.

• Read about state laws about increases, eviction, and Truth in Renting here, here, and here.

There are also several non-profit tenant advocacy groups throughout the state to help, including the North Jersey Tenants' Association.

For further reading:

• Rents In Jersey City, Hoboken Highest In Country. But Are They Legal?
• No, Your Landlord Can't Evict You Just Because The Building Was Sold
• Rivington Rent Hikes Reduced; Hoboken Says They're An 'Injustice'
• AvalonBay Will Fight Hoboken Rent Control Determination In October
  
• The Jordan In Hoboken May Fall Under Rent Control

ProPublica Investigation

In addition, last year, a national investigation indicated that several groups of landlords were raising rents at the same time based on computer software, giving tenants few options in their area. Read the report in ProPublica.

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