Rent Control Fight In Montclair Still Alive; Law May Hit Ballot

MONTCLAIR, NJ — Montclair’s controversial rent control law may go before local voters after all.

On Monday, Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Beacham reversed a previous ruling on a lawsuit involving Montclair’s rent control ordinance, ordering the town clerk to certify a petition from a group of landlords and property owners.

Unless an appeal is granted, Montclair will have to place the law on a ballot as a referendum question in an upcoming election – a demand that the Montclair Property Owners Association (MPOA) has been making since it rolled out.

The Montclair Town Council passed the rent control ordinance in April 2020. It would limit annual rent increases in Montclair to 2.5 percent for seniors and 4.25 percent for other tenants, with some exceptions.

A court injunction has kept the law from going into effect.

Some Montclair residents, including Mayor Sean Spiller, have claimed the new ordinance is a long overdue and much-needed victory for people who are at the mercy of landlords seeking to raise their rents. But critics, including the MPOA, have argued the law was pushed through during the coronavirus crisis and will impact property taxes paid by single-family homeowners.

In an attempt to get the ordinance placed before Montclair voters, the MPOA tried to raise 1,020 signatures from local residents. However, only 914 of the 1,528 signatures that the MPOA submitted to the township clerk's office were deemed "acceptable" due to alleged issues such as unverified signatures, setting off another legal fight.

• See related article: Montclair Landlords Fail To Get Rent Control Challenge On Ballot

But enough of those signatures will count after all, if Beacham’s new ruling stands.

The ordinance will now return to the council. If the council chooses not to repeal it, the municipal clerk will schedule a special election, which could be held in late April or early May.

Monday’s reversal came as a blow to members of the Tenants Organization of Montclair (TOOM), who issued the following statement in reaction:

“We are deeply disappointed that the judge ruled in favor of the landlord group, which was given ten times the normal length of time to secure its signatures - and which failed to compile enough signatures even then, in the careful eyes of the town clerk. Whatever happens now, the Tenants Organization of Montclair is secure in knowing that moderate rent control represents the will of the people of Montclair. If the matter eventually goes to referendum, we will win. Tenants have been denied any reasonable protections for decades, in fact, forever in this township. This needs to change. We hope to see this go to a higher court to have our rent control implemented as deserved by the residents of this township.”

Read more about the MPOA’s position on the ordinance here.

Read more about TOOM’s position on the ordinance here.

Catch up on some recent coverage of the issue below.

• Rent Control In Montclair: Critics Try To Bring Issue To Voters
• Battle Over Rent Control In Montclair Continues
• Rent Control In Montclair: Town Must Surrender Contact List

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