WHO WE ARE
The Jersey City Together Tenants' Union is an organization of tenants in private & public housing, working together to hold bad landlords accountable and make Jersey City more affordable. We are proud to be part of Jersey City Together.
Our work began in the spring of 2017 when we launched a campaign to hold one of the largest landlords in the city accountable for the conditions in their buildings and for their violations of the city’s rent control law.
Since that time, our work has resulted in thousands of repairs in buildings across the city (both in rent controlled buildings and in public housing) and summonses issued to landlords who are violating the law. It has forced one of the worst landlords out of the city. And we have begun work to identify significant, structural changes at the local, county, and state level that will enhance tenants’ rights and hold landlords who violate the law accountable.
Our organization is committed to supporting tenants across Jersey City to advocate for safe and affordable homes for themselves and for their neighbors.
We provide training and support for tenants about their rights and how they can get individual issues addressed (housing and health code violations, rent control violations, and more). We provide leadership development and organizing training for tenant leaders. And we research opportunities and then advocate for broader changes across Jersey City and Hudson County.
We work in partnership with Jersey City Together.
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
Your right to safe & decent housing in New Jersey
New Jersey is considered a tenant-friendly state. Read more below about your rights as a tenant (as well as more about your landlord's rights). If you have questions, we strongly encourage you to seek the advice of an attorney.
Here are some links below:
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"Your Right to Safe, Decent Housing" from Legal Services of New Jersey
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Check back soon as we add more links to this section.
If you are having an issue with your landlord right now, please see our section on how to get support in addressing your issues.
Rent Control in Jersey City & filing an illegal rent complaint
Jersey City has one of the strongest “rent control” laws in the country. Just because an old tenant moves out and the apartment is renovated does not mean a landlord can raise the rent to whatever he or she wants. There are significant regulations and requirements.
Learn more about Rent Control in Jersey City at the following links:
GET SUPPORT
Filing a complaint
Whenever you have an issue in your apartment, do your best to document what actions you take, who you speak to, and the issues you are dealing with. This means:
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Taking pictures of any issues in your apartment or building;
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Writing down immediately who you speak to, the date/time of your call, and the response you receive;
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Following up with an email when possible.
We encourage you to contact your landlord first. The city departments to contact & their contact information are below:
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For Housing Code Enforcement Issues, call Jersey City’s Residence Response Center at (201) 547-4900. This also creates a paper trail with the city.
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If you suspect your rent was raised in violation of Jersey City’s rent control regulations or if you never received the previous tenant’s rent, please let us know by emailing info@jctenants.org.
You should then contact the city’s Office of Tenant-Landlord Relations at (201) 547-5127. The illegal rent complaint form is available here. Write down:
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The date/time of your call
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Who you spoke with
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Their response
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Legal Support
For legal assistance, you can contact:
The Waterfront Project
830 Bergen Ave, Jersey City, NJ 07306,
(551) 256-7578
www.thewaterfrontproject.org
Northeast NJ Legal Services
574 Summit Ave, Jersey City, NJ 07306
(201) 792-6363
www.lsnj.org/nnjls
Hudson County Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service
583 Newark Ave, 4th Floor, Jersey City, NJ 07306
(201) 798-4708
Get Organized
If you are interested in working with other tenants to hold your landlord accountable or to make sure the city is doing its job, we encourage you to get involved in the Jersey City Together Tenants' Union.
E-mail us at info@jctenants.org.
In the coming weeks, we will post tools that tenants' can use to get organized.
REGULAR MEETINGS
OUR TEAM MEETS MONTHLY
TO PLAN NEXT STEPS
& TO PREPARE FOR FUTURE
ACTIONS.
EMAIL INFO@JCTENANTS.ORG
TO LEARN MORE.
SUPPORT OUR WORK
OUR WORK WOULD NOT
BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT YOUR
FINANCIAL SUPPORT.
