National Legal and Policy Center -- Legal Services Accountability Project
 
LSAP REPORT
 
Issue # 92 -- December 13, 1999


Legal Services Intrudes On New Jersey Low-Income Housing

Legal aid programs in New Jersey that receive federal funding from the Legal Services Corporation are charged with the task of meeting the everyday legal needs of the poor.  Unfortunately, these programs all too often work to make housing for the poor in New Jersey more unlivable and difficult to find by creating tremendous difficulties for public and private landlords trying to provide low-cost housing.

Legal Services Sends Apartment Lease Terms To The Doghouse
Hudson County Legal Services of New Jersey, a recipient of federal tax money, chose to spend taxpayer dollars contesting a clear violation of a “no-pet” provision of a Jersey City public housing lease.  Ada Garcia lived in public housing with a dog and cat even though a provision in her lease clearly prohibited her from having pets in the housing complex.  When the city started eviction proceedings against Garcia because of the violation, Legal Services successfully argued to a state court that a “reasonable” interpretation of the no-pet provision should allow pets despite the clear language of the lease.  The court held that it was “reasonable” for Garcia to have the cat in her apartment, but not her dog.  Thanks to the effort of Legal Services, landlords across the state can no longer count on the language of their leases being enforced by the courts, especially if their tenants can use questionable legal arguments cooked up by Legal Services.

See Jersey City Management v. Garcia, 1999 N.J. Super. LEXIS 192 (N.J. App. Div., June 3, 1999).

Legal Services Forces Landlords Into Section 8 Program
Thanks to federally funded Hudson County Legal Services (HCLS), New Jersey property owners can be forced to participate in the Section 8 subsidized housing program against their will.  HCLS convinced the New Jersey Supreme Court that state law requires a landlord to accept Section 8 vouchers from one of their tenants, even if the landlord did not wish to participate in the Section 8 program and had never done so before.  This court decision hurts landlords because participation in the Section 8 program entails a large bureaucratic tangle of paperwork and property inspections.  Additionally, the decision limits the options these private landowners have of using their property.

See Franklin Tower One, L.L.C. v. N.M., 725 A.2d 1104, (N.J. 1999).

Legal Aid Delays Paterson Public Housing Reform
The Passaic County Legal Aid Society filed suit in April 1999 against the Paterson Housing Authority seeking to prevent the city from relocating the last few tenants from the dilapidated Christopher Columbus Housing complex slated for demolition.  Legal Aid’s suit additionally sought to force the city to repair the facilities and provide security for the last remaining 12 families of the 381 who once lived in the drug-infested high-rise complex.  Legal Aid pursued this case in spite of the fact that Paterson was giving relocated tenants relocation assistance and subsidized private housing as part of its $70 million HOPE VI federally sponsored housing assistance program.  Ultimately, although granting an initital temporary order preventing the relocation of the final few residents, the judge hearing the case ruled in June 1999 that the city could finally move on its plan to demolish the high-rise and move the residents.  As a result, Legal Aid’s action accomplished nothing except to delay the move of poor public housing residents into better housing and cost the city’s taxpayers a great deal of money while the suit was pending.

See Michael Casey, News Section article pg. L01, Bergen County Record, June 22, 1999.



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