Tenants still suffering as protection bill advances in Senate

Payton Guion | Asbury Park Press

When Asbury Park Press reporters visited Yanira Cortes in her first-floor Newark apartment in November, rats and roaches were so common they should have helped pay rent.

Cortes, who testified before a Senate committee Monday, was among the many tenants featured in a Press investigative series in January that found serious breakdowns in New Jersey's rental housing, leaving thousands of renters in dangerous and squalid apartments.

More: APP investigation 'Renter Hell' prompts legislation

Based on that investigation, state Sens. Jennifer Beck, R-Monmouth, and Ronald Rice, D-Essex, introduced a bill aimed at tackling many of the issues raised by the Press. Watch the videos at the top of this story to see the deplorable conditions.

On Monday, that bill was passed by the Senate's Community and Urban Affairs Committee, paving the way for a full Senate vote in the coming weeks. But while lawmakers mull the reforms, tenants say their living conditions are deteriorating.

"Everything has gotten worse," Cortes said Monday about the issues in her apartment in the Pueblo City complex on Newark's impoverished south side. She said the rats, which previously stayed mostly in the bathroom, have taken to racing around the apartment at night, waking Cortes and her four kids.

APP INVESTIGATION: Renter Hell

Cortes told the Senate committee that her kids have missed school because of the problems in their apartment. She said one child has been so bothered by the rats that one of the children has been wetting the bed rather than using the rat-infested bathroom.

"And HUD (the federal housing department) is still paying this landlord," Beck said during Cortes' testimony before the Senate committee, getting at the heart of the bill.

Part I: Billions for squalor

Beck's and Rice's bill would make it easier to cut off rent subsidies to landlords whose properties have fallen into disrepair.

Housing advocates say that one reason many publicly subsidized rental properties are in poor condition is because money keeps flowing to landlords from the federal and state levels, sometimes even if they fail inspections.

Part II: Fighting the rats

Under current law, it's difficult for the state to stop subsidies, giving landlords little incentive to improve their units. The federal government pays more than $1.3 billion to New Jersey in rent subsidies. The money is then distributed by the state Department of Community Affairs.

The bill also requires landlords to provide more thorough contact information, making it more difficult for property owners to hide behind shell companies, which the Press found allowed negligent landlords to escape punishment. Under the pending legislation, property owners would have to provide two phone numbers, an email address and a street address upon registration.

Part III: Protected by the law

Other provisions in the bill would alter inspections cycles, with problem units being inspected more frequently, and would limit the practice of tenant blacklisting. The Press investigation found that blacklisting occurs after a tenant takes a landlord to court. Even if the tenant wins the case, their name often goes into a database and turns up when a future landlord does a background check.

The Press found that renters who exercised their legal rights were subsequently denied housing opportunities for doing so. The bill says the reasons a renter appeared in court must be noted in any tenant database.

Part IV: Failing the inspection

Now that the bill has been passed by the Senate committee, it will likely be tweaked before being heard on the full Senate floor. Beck said she plans to meet with housing advocates in the coming days and hopes to get the bill through the Senate before the Legislature takes its summer break.

If it passes the Senate, the process will be repeated in the Assembly. Beck said she expects that to happen this fall.

It is not yet clear where Gov. Chris Christie stands on the reforms. His office has not yet returned phone calls seeking comment.

Part V: Some fixes, but no cure

Read: State inspects troubled apartments after APP probe

More: NJ cracks down after APP renter investigation

Payton Guion: 732-643-4245; pguion@app.com