Montclair property owners association

Negotiations between tenants and landlords, looking to head off a referendum with a new ordinance all the parties could agree upon, fell apart last week.

Negotiations between a group of tenant advocates and landlords seeking to avert a referendum on a Montclair rent control ordinance have reached an impasse.

Rise Against Hate is suing to get access to the township's mailing list.

But if all the issues in play can't be settled, the head of a landlords group warns "there will be a referendum and more litigation."

A hearing is set for Monday that could end the legal fight and put Montclair on course for a referendum.

A Montclair landlords group intends to sue the township for once again extending a rent-increase freeze, this time through March 2022. 

Judges rule clerk acted "capriciously" in tossing out electronic signatures that didn't match handwritten ones from voter rolls.

Montclair landlords are urging the township to end its rent increase freeze, as New Jersey’s  public health emergency for the coronavirus pandemic was lifted in June, and property owners are dealing with increased costs. 

Ron Simoncini of the Montclair Property Owners Association asks: "Why can voters in Montclair be trusted to choose the mechanism for school board membership, but they cannot be trusted to decide if they want rent control?"

Ordinance to limit rent increases was first passed a year ago — and been tied up in a legal fight since.