The rent control saga continues again this Election Day for Hoboken residents. It’s the third time the topic of changing Hoboken’s rent control laws has been brought up in 2024. On the ballot this year is a question asking residents to vote on an amendment to the City’s rent control code. The change would allow landlords to increase rent after a tenant vacates to market price without limitation if they pay a fee to the Hoboken Affordable Housing Trust Fund. It comes after Hoboken City Council voted down a proposal to change how rent-controlled properties are priced after a tenant vacates it. Here’s a breakdown of what a vote “yes” and a vote “no” mean for Hoboken residents in the upcoming November 5th election.
The Background
Back in 2023, the Mile Square Taxpayers Association, or MSTA, advocated for ‘Vacancy Decontrol’ — where the landlord gets a one-time chance to bump up the rent up to 25% if the tenant had been there more than three years, or 10% if more than five years. This would only impact rent-controlled apartments, where rates are more regulated than non-rent-controlled apartments.
While the City Council voted to approve this change proposed by MSTA, Mayor Ravi Bhalla vetoed it.
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The plan was re-introduced to the City Council in the summer of 2024. The MSTA collected enough signatures on the rent-control referendum and then got the petition certified.
This proposal required landlords looking to increase rent on a previously rent-controlled unit to notify Hoboken and pay a one-time fee. If a landlord opted into this program, they would be permitted a certain percentage increase depending on how long the previous tenant occupied the unit. This compromise was originally approved by Hoboken City Council upon first reading in July 2024, but it failed to pass on the second reading, sending the referendum to a vote this November.
What Does Voting “No” Mean?
A vote of “no” supports maintaining the current rent control code in Hoboken and the current limits on how much a landlord can charge after a tenant vacates the property. Right now, Hoboken law is landlords are limited to raising rent to 5% or the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower. If a tenant had been in the property for three years or more before leaving, there is a maximum of 25% increase in rent. This increase can only happen once every three years for the same unit.
What Does Voting “Yes” Mean?
A “yes” vote means supporting the amendment to allow landlords to increase rent upon vacancy to market price without limitations, as long as they pay a $2,500 fee per unit to the City for the affordable housing fund. There would be no 5% limit or three-year maximum 25% increase on rent. It would reduce the restrictions in the current Rent Control Code. This would only impact new tenants, not current tenants. And, it would only impact apartments that are being re-rented after a tenancy of longer than three years.
What Local Groups Are Saying
An earlier version of this article omitted Hoboken United Tenants as an additional group advocating for “no” vote. Article edited to add as of 10/30 at 3:45PM.
Hoboken United Tenants, a local group advocating against the referendum, said that voting “yes” is “unlikely to create even a single affordable unit, while putting as many as 8,000 rent-controlled units at risk.”
“Non-rent-controlled tenants will see a quickly rising Hoboken market rate as 7,000+ rent-controlled units rise, catastrophically increasing rents in an already rent-burdened community. ALL Hoboken residents will face much higher rents on any new unit they may move into.” – Zachary King, Hoboken Renter with HUT (Hoboken United Tenants).
“If this initiative passes, it would put a target on the back of all of Hoboken’s long-term residents who currently have affordable apartments due to rent control. The promise of decontrol provides a strong incentive to landlords to evict or otherwise harass these tenants out of their apartments so that they can increase the rent 100, 200, or even 300 percent or more,” the group shared on its website. Read the full statement here.
The Hoboken Housing Initiative issued a statement calling “posturing” about the referendum “wasteful, wrongheaded, and revealing.”
“While the Referendum is a reaction to Hoboken Government’s mismanagement of both its affordable housing policy and its rent control administration, it stands on its own objectives: It will utilize rent-controlled housing to the benefit of those who need housing subsidies by providing new revenue sources to build it, and it will allow new tenants to move into improved apartments at rent they can afford. By allowing tenants to pay market prices, property owners will be incentivized to make needed repairs that are impossible for them to make under the current law, which severely constrains rents even at vacancy.” Read the full statement here.
Ron Simoncini, executive director of the Mile Square Taxpayers Association, told the Hudson County View voting yes, “doesn’t eliminate rent control, it saves it. The referendum specifically asserts that these units fall under rent control and no current tenant will be affected. It also has the benefit of encouraging property owners to register their units, which creates a functional marketplace.” The Hoboken Girl reached out to Ron for comment and will update this piece with any further comments.
Cheryl Fallick, tenant advocate with the Hoboken Fair Housing Association, told The Hoboken Girl, “As a longtime resident of Hoboken, I’ve seen too many friends and neighbors pushed out by corporations that prioritize profits over people. It’s vital that we stand united and send a clear message: vote NO on November 5th. Our homes, our community, and our future depend on it.”
Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla posted on X this week saying, “I strongly encourage residents to VOTE NO on the corporate landlord and lobbyist-led referendum, seeking to gut rent control protections. Voting NO will protect our neighbors, our affordability, and our city’s character.”
Labor Union 32BJ SEIU, the largest property service workers union in the country, recently urged residents to vote “no.” The organization has 175,000 members in 12 states, about 15,000 of whom are in New Jersey. 32BJ is an affiliate union of the Service Employees International Union which works to raise industry standards for working families and build a fair economy.
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Ana Maria Hill, New Jersey State Director for 32BJ SEIU, told ROI NJ, “Too many of the essential workers who maintain and clean Hoboken buildings already cannot afford to live in the city they work. That’s not right. Our members – building cleaners, security officers, residential maintenance workers, school custodians – and all working people need sensible housing policy to address this affordability crisis, not a referendum that guts rent control protections and would make it more expensive to live in Hoboken. We can’t go backward. We urge Hoboken residents to vote ‘no.’”
Election Day is Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Early voting information and polling locations can be found in our article here. Follow @thehobokengirl on Instagram + TikTok to stay in the know with all of the Hoboken + Jersey City news, and sign up for our newsletter that shares all of our top stories to your inbox here.