Legal aid programs in New Jersey that receive federal funding from the Legal Services Corporation are charged with the task of meeting the everyday legal needs of the poor. Unfortunately, these programs all too often work to make housing for the poor in New Jersey more unlivable and difficult to find by creating tremendous difficulties for public and private landlords trying to provide low-cost housing.
Legal Services Sends Apartment Lease Terms To The Doghouse
Hudson County Legal Services of New Jersey, a recipient of federal
tax money, chose to spend taxpayer dollars contesting a clear violation
of a “no-pet” provision of a Jersey City public housing lease. Ada
Garcia lived in public housing with a dog and cat even though a provision
in her lease clearly prohibited her from having pets in the housing complex.
When the city started eviction proceedings against Garcia because of the
violation, Legal Services successfully argued to a state court that a “reasonable”
interpretation of the no-pet provision should allow pets despite the clear
language of the lease. The court held that it was “reasonable” for
Garcia to have the cat in her apartment, but not her dog. Thanks
to the effort of Legal Services, landlords across the state can no longer
count on the language of their leases being enforced by the courts, especially
if their tenants can use questionable legal arguments cooked up by Legal
Services.
See Jersey City Management v. Garcia, 1999 N.J. Super. LEXIS 192 (N.J. App. Div., June 3, 1999).
Legal Services Forces Landlords Into Section 8 Program
Thanks to federally funded Hudson County Legal Services (HCLS), New
Jersey property owners can be forced to participate in the Section 8 subsidized
housing program against their will. HCLS convinced the New Jersey
Supreme Court that state law requires a landlord to accept Section 8 vouchers
from one of their tenants, even if the landlord did not wish to participate
in the Section 8 program and had never done so before. This court
decision hurts landlords because participation in the Section 8 program
entails a large bureaucratic tangle of paperwork and property inspections.
Additionally, the decision limits the options these private landowners
have of using their property.
See Franklin Tower One, L.L.C. v. N.M., 725 A.2d 1104, (N.J. 1999).
Legal Aid Delays Paterson Public Housing Reform
The Passaic County Legal Aid Society filed suit in April 1999 against
the Paterson Housing Authority seeking to prevent the city from relocating
the last few tenants from the dilapidated Christopher Columbus Housing
complex slated for demolition. Legal Aid’s suit additionally sought
to force the city to repair the facilities and provide security for the
last remaining 12 families of the 381 who once lived in the drug-infested
high-rise complex. Legal Aid pursued this case in spite of the fact
that Paterson was giving relocated tenants relocation assistance and subsidized
private housing as part of its $70 million HOPE VI federally sponsored
housing assistance program. Ultimately, although granting an initital
temporary order preventing the relocation of the final few residents, the
judge hearing the case ruled in June 1999 that the city could finally move
on its plan to demolish the high-rise and move the residents. As
a result, Legal Aid’s action accomplished nothing except to delay the move
of poor public housing residents into better housing and cost the city’s
taxpayers a great deal of money while the suit was pending.
See Michael Casey, News Section article pg. L01, Bergen County Record, June 22, 1999.