Good News For Tenants !!
A-3851, the Assembly version of our Legal Fee bill for tenants, will get a hearing on Thursday, 3/14/13
Probable full Senate vote on Legal Fee bill S-2018 on 3/18/13
A-603, the overreaching bedbug bill, was "held"
Dear Tenant Friend,
Because of your activism, your phone calls, your emails, things are going very well, very quickly for tenants.
- The unfair bedbug bill, A-603, was held in committee, and we will work with the sponsor to try to make it fair to tenants.
- The full Senate will probably vote on our Legal Fee bill for Tenants on Monday, March 18.
- The Assembly version of the Legal Fee bill, A-3851, is scheduled for a hearing this Thursday
The Assembly Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on our Legal Fee bill, A-3851, sponsored by Assemblyman Craig Coughlin and Assemblyman Tim Eustace, this Thursday, 3/14/13, at 10 A.M. in Committee Room 12 on the 4th Floor of the State House Annex in Trenton. This is the same as S-2018, which is out of committee and ready for a full Senate vote. It would give successful tenants the right to receive legal fees and expenses if the landlord has reserved the same right in the lease. I haven't seen a lease in many years that does not have such a clause. So, if this bill passes, tenants may get a little more justice out of the justice system. A tenant who successfully defends against a landlord lawsuit (normally for eviction) or successfully sues the landlord for violating the lease will get legal fees and expenses. If landlords can get it, why shouldn't tenants? Hopefully, we will end up with much fewer frivolous lawsuits filed against tenants who stand up for their rights.
But we need your help again to make this happen. Please call the members of the Assembly Judiciary Committee and ask them to vote YES on A-3851, and release it from Committee. If landlords can get legal fees, why in the world shouldn't tenants? Please call today, tomorrow and Wednesday so we'll have the committee votes on Thursday.
Assembly Judiciary Committee
Assemblyman Peter J. Barnes, Chair 732-548-1406 AsmBarnes@njleg.org
Assemblywoman Annette Quijano, Vice-Chair 908-327-9119 AswQuijano@njleg.org
Assemblyman Ralph R. Caputo 973-450-0484 AsmCaputo@njleg.org
Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll 973-539-8113 AsmCarroll@njleg.org
Assemblyman Gordon M. Johnson 201-530-0469 AsmJohnson@njleg.org
Assemblyman John F. McKeon 973-377-1606 AsmMcKeon@njleg.org
Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi 201-666-0881 AswSchepisi@njleg.org
Ask them not only to vote YES on A-3851, but to also sign on as co-sponsors.
You should also call your own Senator, and ask her or him to vote YES on S-2018 at the next Senate Session, one week from today, on Monday, March 18, 2013. If you don't know your own Senator's phone number, you can find it at the following link:
Just click on your town and then on your district, and you'll see the legislators for your district.
I know this seems like a lot to ask, but, if you all do it, we're going to win this. Every phone call is like 200 of those "form" emails. And every individualized email is like 50 "form" emails. Please do as much as you can.
Thank you for your advocacy,
Matt Shapiro
President
New Jersey Tenants Organization
96 Linwood Plaza #233
Fort Lee, NJ 07024
Telephone: (201) 342-3775
Fax: (201) 342-3776
email: njto11@verizon.net
website: www.njto.org
March 2013 Update:
Below is the correspondence sent to tenant activists on the two bills that will affect tenants' lives. If you are interested in the history leading up to the moment, click here.
