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Housing
Vindicating the Rights of Displaced
and
Overcharged Tenants
In 2023, Lowenstein agreed to represent low-income renters who are seeking compensation from the City of Asbury Park for its mismanagement of an affordable housing program. Under the New Jersey Constitution, every municipality has an obligation to create and maintain its fair share of affordable housing, and the law used to allow municipalities to pay other towns to take on part of their obligations through so-called Regional Contribution Agreements (RCAs). Asbury Park participated in this now-defunct program, receiving money from other municipalities (including, for instance, Freehold Township and Spring Lake) to assume part of their affordable housing obligations. Using RCA funds, Asbury Park subsidized local landlords who agreed to rehabilitate buildings that housed low-income tenants. In exchange for the funding, the landlords were supposed to promise to maintain the units at affordable prices for 10 years.
The firm is representing tenants who were displaced or forced to pay excessive rent in RCA-subsidized housing.
In practice, however, and as reported by the Asbury Park Press, several of the landlords who secured RCA funding rehabilitated their properties and then either raised the rent to the point that it was no longer affordable or displaced low-income tenants and rented the units at high prices (through short-term rental apps, for example). This activity deprived tenants of their homes, violated the RCAs, and depleted the constitutionally mandated stock of affordable housing. It appears that the city wholly failed to monitor compliance.
The firm is representing tenants who were displaced or forced to pay excessive rent in RCA-subsidized housing. They seek monetary compensation for their out-of-pocket costs, including the costs of moving and finding alternative housing. They also seek damages for the violation of their constitutional right to a fair shot at securing affordable housing.
© Tanya Breen – USA TODAY NETWORK