Rent Control In Montclair: Town Must Surrender Contact List

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The rent control war in Montclair rages on. The latest battleground? A treasure trove of email addresses and phone numbers, town officials said in an “urgent” announcement made Friday.

Recently, Montclair passed a local ordinance that limits annual rent increases to 2.5 percent for seniors and 4.25 percent for other tenants, with a few exceptions.

Some Montclair residents 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 Montclair Property Owners Association (MPOA), have argued the law is being pushed through during the coronavirus crisis and will impact property taxes paid by single-family homeowners.

• See related article: Battle Over Rent Control In Montclair Continues

The MPOA has been spearheading an effort to put the fate of the law before voters this November. To help their members gather enough signatures to do so, they’re demanding that township officials hand over a list of residents’ email addresses and phone numbers, which Montclair uses for public notifications.

• See related article: Rent Control In Montclair: Critics Try To Bring Issue To Voters

A Superior Court judge sided with the MPOA in August, ordering the township to turn over the list.

Montclair hit back, appealing the ruling. Their efforts were unsuccessful – but the fight isn’t over, town officials said Friday.

According to an “urgent message from the mayor and council of the Township of Montclair” sent via email to local residents:

“Yesterday, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Beacham, over our strenuous objection, ordered the township to turn over a ‘list of electronic addresses used to send emails (email addresses) and text messages (texting numbers)’ to a group of plaintiffs that seeks to persuade voters to sign a petition to repeal the township’s rent control law. Your name, address and other information is on that list. The township’s intense efforts to protect you from a blatant invasion of your privacy from this group, called the Montclair Property Owners Association, were summarily rejected by the judge. Our attempts to stop the order and file an emergency appeal were also denied.”

The email continued:

“You can be sure that we are all outraged by the court’s decision. You may be contacted by someone asking you to sign a petition concerning rent control. Please be aware that the petition seeks to repeal Montclair’s reasonable rent protections and put our tenants at risk. While the petition is not unlawful, it is not authorized or supported in any way by the township. If you are contacted more than twice or are harassed in any way, please email Township Attorney Ira Karasick at ikarasick@montclairnjusa.org. We hope you will join us in helping to keep Montclair the diverse township we all love by preserving rent control.”

The email was signed by Mayor Sean Spiller, Deputy Mayor William Hurlock and council members Bob Russo, Peter Yacobellis, Robin Schlager, Lori Price Abrams and David Cummings.

‘POISONING THE WELL’

Charles Gormally, an attorney for the MPOA, called Friday’s statement from the mayor and council “outrageous and wholly improper,” adding that it will discourage participation in the referendum process.

“The township is clearly trying to poison the well in advance of any communication from the committee of petitioners who, as you are aware, are exercising their substantive rights of referendum,” Gormally told Patch.

“It is an embarrassment for anyone who took an oath to uphold the constitution and the laws of this state to behave in this manner,” Gormally said.

Gormally continued:

“The township is now on notice of our intention to bring a claim against the township for these abusive actions. We will assert a claim for punitive damages and interference with the plaintiffs rights along with a claim of libel and slander for the outright lies in this piece including an accusation that our clients are invading residents privacy. The fact that the township’s trumped-up claim of irreparable injury that was roundly rejected by both the trial court and the appellate court is now converted into political gaslighting is inconsistent with the ethical and legal obligations of the elected officials in Montclair, and will be redressed in the appropriate venues.”

The MPOA offered an additional response to the town’s email on Friday afternoon:

“As a result of today's unprecedented attempt to squelch the voice of the citizens, we have received the attached correspondence indicating yet another layer of how far the Montclair government will go to prevent a dialogue around rent control. In addition, there was a previous clear attempt to circumvent the judge's order by encouraging residents to opt out of the notification program in order to avoid getting email about the referendum. And finally, just today the Montclair government used this same system, which is intended for emergency notifications and was only made available to the petitioners to protect the right of referendum, to send a politically-oriented message. Hypocrisy and a lack of ethics. What must be at stake for the elected officials in Montclair?”

‘WE WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE AROUND THEM’

The Tenants Organization of Montclair (TOOM), which has been fighting for rent control in the township, said its members stand with Montclair officials.

President Ahava Felicidad and 1st Vice President Toni Martin issued the following joint statement on Friday.

“The Tenants Organization of Montclair and Montclair Citizens for Rent Control, stand with Montclair town officials in their unwavering support of our rent control ordinance. Concerning the release of residents’ personal emails and phone numbers to a property owners’ group seeking to overturn rent control we are unmoved in our efforts to continue fighting for rent control implementation.

“With the aid of a high-powered real estate attorney, and a judge willing to make ‘new law’ during a pandemic, the MPOA has managed to shuck many, but not enough.

“This small group of property owners will be stopped with our greater numbers of supporters. Now the MPOA has demonstrated that it not only disrespects tenants’ rights, but every resident’s right to privacy concerning their personal information.

“TOOM worked tirelessly, and in public, for a year before the pandemic occurred to persuade the township mayor and council that the need for rent stabilization and enforcement of tenants’ legal rights was an urgent matter. This has been a close to 40-year issue. The town’s rent control ordinance was passed in April 2020. The MPOA was formed two weeks before the ordinance was adopted – and it has thrown every roadblock possible in the way since. We will continue to move around them.

“TOOM has recently been joined by the growing Montclair Citizens for Rent Control coalition. It embraces many homeowners, property owners, community leaders, the NAACP and a diverse group of clergy who believe that rent control is the only way to stabilize our diverse community. Even though the MPOA has now been supplied the means to harass the community with its propagandistic anti-tenant statements, our coalition and our goal remains the same.”

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