Stop Payment, Director Says: Rent Checks Stolen From Lock Box In Hoboken Public Housing

HOBOKEN, NJ — The first of the month is rent day — and some public housing tenants who paid on time may have a big headache this month.

The director of Hoboken's federally subsidized public housing sent a note to residents Monday saying they should stop payment on rent checks or money orders they'd left over the weekend.

"Dear Residents, The HHA office lobby was broken into in the early hours of this morning, Monday April 1," wrote Marc Recko. "The perpetrator pried open the lock box in which you deposit your rents."

He said residents who deposited rent in the mail chute between 2 p.m. Saturday, March 30 and 7 a.m. this morning should stop payment.

The Hoboken police are investigating the incident, a spokesperson confirmed.

The HHA runs 1,354 units of low-income and senior housing in the southwest part of town.

Last year, the City Council voted for a 10-year modernization plan to rehabilitate the buildings, some of which go back to the 1940s, without displacing residents. READ MORE: Hoboken Housing Authority To Undergo Rehabilitation