Op-Ed: Jersey City must not become a playground for predatory landlords again

By John Heinis, June 13, 2025 11:00 am - Published in the Hudson County View.

In an editorial, Jersey City Together members Uche Akpa and Anna Bassett explain why the city must not become a playground for predatory landlords again.

Just when we thought we had solved a serious housing problem in Jersey City, we have learned that it has emerged with even more impact recently.

In 2017, Jersey City Together led an organized effort to shine a light on a deeply troubling trend: aggressive landlords were sweeping through our city, buying up rent-controlled buildings, illegally pushing out qualified tenants, and replacing them with renters paying two, three, even four times as much.

One of the worst offenders was Trendy Management—a company that used fraud, harassment, and intimidation to drive out vulnerable tenants.

Our organizing led to direct action. The city responded. Trendy was held accountable and stopped its abusive practices. A line was drawn.

But now, we are watching the cycle recur. And this time, it’s even more widespread and more dangerous, not just to those displaced tenants, but to the banks that are lending to the real estate operators who are involved.

Post-COVID, a new wave of predatory landlords (using names like Jersey Mountains 6 LLC and Holland Management), perhaps stymied somewhat by oversight in New York City, began to see fresh opportunities in Jersey City.

They are using the same tried-and-true tactics: buy low, harass tenants, create unlivable conditions, push people out, and then dramatically hike rents on new tenants.

One case, as reported by ABC 7 News, involves a landlord accused of planting dead fish in a tenant’s apartment to drive them out. It sounds unbelievable—until you realize it’s just a more grotesque version of what tenants across the city are experiencing every day.

This is not an episode from The Wire. This is what good, hard-working, rent-paying tenants are experiencing on a daily basis.

These landlords aren’t just making a quick buck. They are enriching themselves exponentially. And if you think that this is just another landlord-vs-tenant story, think again.

After jacking up rent, the landlords go back to their bank with higher rental income on the books, they seek additional loans based on the higher valuations that all those inflated rents are supposed to justify.

The increased loan amount allows them to extract cash immediately, while tenants suffer the consequences of neglect, harassment, and displacement.

This isn’t just speculation. It’s an established pattern, and New York City saw it firsthand.In New York, Signature Bank was a key player in financing this abusive landlord model.

As reported by Vice, Signature issued billions in loans based on inflated rent rolls tied to properties that were overvalued through tenant turnover and aggressive rent hikes.

When Signature collapsed in 2023, it exposed just how fragile—and toxic—this system had become. The cost of stabilizing and recovering from the Signature Bank collapse is enormous. And it would be bad enough if this were a one-off rip-off. But it isn’t. The entire banking system is threatened by this dynamic. Banks now hold billions of dollars in loans that are based on the inflated rates that predatory landlords large and small have falsely claimed to be realistic. So we aren’t just looking at a housing crisis here.

We are looking at the early stages of a major banking and financial crisis, all of which will lead to massive bailouts by one or multiple government agencies, underwritten by taxpayers.

Predators persistently seek weak links in any system — financial, regulatory, social. These same investors found some in Jersey City, with its weaker rent control laws and limited enforcement.

Why? Because the city’s Rent Control Ordinance (Ordinance 260) has glaring loopholes. And because too often, landlords face little or no consequence when they break the rules.

Jersey City Together and its statewide partners in New Jersey Together are calling on city leaders—particularly the Rent Leveling Board, the Office of Landlord/Tenant Relations, the City Council, and the Mayor—to act swiftly and decisively:∙ Criminal landlords must face serious penalties, including legal prosecution where applicable.∙ The Rent Control Ordinance must be rewritten to close loopholes that allow for illegal rent hikes, tenant abuse, and refinance-based enrichment.∙ Data on violations and abusive practices must be tracked and published.∙ The city must proactively enforce tenant protections, not wait for media exposure.

Jersey City Together is ready to stand with tenants again, building-by-building, block-by-block. But we cannot do it alone. We need our city government to close the loopholes, enforce the law, and stop this cycle before it spirals further out of control.

We just recently stopped a landlord from getting approval for an unjust “hardship” rent increase.

This isn’t just about rent. It’s about dignity, justice, and the right to live in peace—without fear of harassment, displacement, or exploitation.

If we fail to act now, we are telling every bad landlord in New York:“Come to Jersey City. You’ll get away with it here.”We refuse to let that happen.

Uche Akpa Housing team leader Jersey City Together

Anna Bassett Cityline Church Housing Team Leader

Jersey City Together