Vote NO on the Ballot Question which Would Weaken Tenant Protections

Note for people who vote by mail: The question is on the back of the VBM ballot, make sure you turn over the ballot & vote NO

Posted Sat, Sep 21, 2024 at 6:14 pm ET on Hoboken Patch
Postcard courtesy of Mary Ondrejka

On Election Day, an anti-rent control initiative will appear on the ballot. It’s crucial that residents who support or benefit from rent control understand that this initiative will harm Hoboken renters.

The initiative, sponsored by —the Mile Square Taxpayers Association (MSTA) an organization representing landlords, developers, and real estate interests—falsely portrays itself as an affordable housing measure. In reality, its goal is to decontrol rental units, allowing rents across Hoboken to rise to the maximum amount the market will bear. Currently, according to Apartments.com, average rents in Hoboken are already sky-high: $2,906 for a studio, $3,691 for a one-bedroom, $4,467 for a two-bedroom, and $6,033 for a three-bedroom. These eyepopping numbers will skyrocket in short order if the ballot question passes when tenants that are paying lower-end rents move or are pushed out of their homes.

MSTA’s consultants and some elected officials claim that current tenants won’t be affected and are protected, but that protection is hollow. In 2–3-unit owner-occupied buildings, tenants can be evicted without cause at the end of a lease, and owners who claim that they plan to move into a 2–3-unit building can also evict tenants without cause. Even in larger buildings, eviction can happen through condo conversion, and if you’ve been listening you’ve probably heard MSTA landlords repeatedly threaten to do this if they don’t get their way – and their way is to jack up rents as much as possible. Additionally, below market rate renters in other buildings may find that they start experiencing subtle and hard to prove harassment. In reality, this initiative incentivizes evictions so that landlords can charge new tenants significantly higher rents.

Many tenants and property owners who support rent control were misled into signing MSTA’s petition, believing it was about affordable housing—another misrepresentation of the initiative’s true intent.

On (or before) November 5th, renters must not vote against their own interests, and property owners should consider the impact on their friends and neighbors who rent. This initiative does not protect tenants; it makes them eviction targets, with the promise of financial gain for landlords who could jack up the rents beyond what the average person can afford.

If you don’t want to see Hoboken’s renters pushed out of their homes, vote NO on the ballot question. (Note for vote by mail voters, turn over your ballot to vote NO on the question which is on the backside) For more information on our campaign to defeat this anti-tenant initiative, visit the Hoboken Fair Housing Association (HFHA) or Hoboken United Tenants (HUT) Facebook pages or websites and please consider donating to our campaign. You can also email us at HobokenFairHousing@gmail.com.

— Cheryl Fallick, longtime resident and HFHA member

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