Coalition of Tenant Advocates Releases Report Exposing Significant Number of Unjustified Evictions in New Jersey

In a newly released report, Unjustified Residential Evictions in New Jersey, a coalition of tenant advocates including the Housing Justice Project of the Center for Social Justice at Seton Hall Law School, the Lowenstein Center for the Public Interest at Lowenstein Sandler, Volunteer Lawyers for Justice, and the Housing Justice Program at Rutgers Law School, urges the New Jersey courts to improve their process for reviewing residential eviction complaints. The report is based on data collected and analyzed by the coalition that suggests that eviction judgments or defaults are entered against as many as 29,000 tenant families each year in cases where the court lacks jurisdiction.

After reviewing 1,378 complaints, including a sample from each county in New Jersey, the coalition found:

• 69 percent of eviction complaints filed by landlords contained at least one legal deficiency, such as landlords failing to attach mandatory eviction notices when the landlord acknowledged the tenancy was subsidized; landlords seeking late fees, attorney fees, or other fees not permitted under the law; and landlords failing to attach required notices when they sought eviction for reasons other than nonpayment of rent;
• 15 percent of complaints filed had three or more legal deficiencies; and
• the courts issued deficiency notices in only 11 percent of the cases in which landlords had filed deficient complaints.
  
  

Tenant attorneys and other legal professionals working with the coalition collected the data in the late spring and summer of 2024. The team created a checklist based on a careful review of the applicable law and rules to guide the assessment of the legal sufficiency of a residential eviction complaint. They then trained volunteers and interns to use the checklist to review complaints filed on eCourts, the public access site for court filings. The coalition shared preliminary data with the Administrative Office of the Courts which identified some errors. Experienced tenant attorneys then went back into eCourts and rechecked all the data, making corrections as needed.

Notably, in landlord-tenant courts across New Jersey, 97 percent of residential tenants do not have a lawyer to defend them from eviction. Without legal representation, self-represented tenants have little-to-no capacity to identify the legal deficiencies that regularly lead to dismissals in the few cases in which tenants have lawyers.

The coalition also examined whether the courts were adhering to a rule change that took effect in September 2023 requiring them to set eviction trials no sooner than five weeks after notifying the tenant of the trial date. This extension was intended to give tenants adequate time to secure legal representation and apply for rental assistance. However, the report's findings reveal that in 27 percent of the cases, the courts failed to give tenants the full five weeks' notice before trial.

The coalition has raised concerns for several years about the entry of judgments against residential tenants despite facial deficiencies in the underlying complaints. A thorough review of complaints is especially important in landlord-tenant cases because most tenants don't have legal representation, there is no formal discovery process, and the timeline moves quickly. The eviction complaint and its attachments are often the only information tenants receive before trial, their only basis for preparing a defense, and the only evidence submitted to the court to establish jurisdiction and prove the case.

The report's findings highlight the pressing need for continued reform and oversight to ensure that eviction judgments are entered in landlord-tenant courts only when there is a sound legal basis to do so. The coalition urges the New Jersey Supreme Court to ensure that state courts:

1. Conduct initial review of all residential eviction filings to identify facial deficiencies, giving landlords an opportunity to cure those deficiencies;
2. Amend the form complaint to promote facially sufficient filings;
3. Conduct proof hearings in residential eviction cases when the tenant defaults;
4. Ensure adequate proofs at trial;
5. Reinforce the five-week notice requirement before trial; and
6. Monitor and report on the results of court review.
   
   

According to the coalition, until these steps are taken, the landlord-tenant courts will continue to enter eviction judgments where they lack jurisdiction, causing numerous tenants to lose their homes when they should not.

About The Center for Social Justice at Seton Hall Law School
For more than 50 years, Seton Hall Law School has offered clinical courses to train law students to become legal professionals who effect positive and lasting change while providing free legal services to the community. The Center for Social Justice and its Housing Justice Project are committed to the pursuit of equitable treatment for all, through cases and advocacy that challenge systemic racism and seek just outcomes for our clients.

About Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ)
VLJ is an award-winning, comprehensive nonprofit legal services program based in Newark, NJ, with a statewide reach. VLJ's mission is to ensure access to justice for people experiencing poverty. The Newark-based organization fulfills that mission by mobilizing volunteers to work alongside staff to address critical legal needs across NJ. In 2023, VLJ's work impacted over 4,200 people-including 1,644 children-and its volunteer attorneys donated nearly $2 million in free legal services.

About the Lowenstein Center for the Public Interest
From its founding, Lowenstein Sandler has been committed to advancing the public interest and serving communities in need. The Lowenstein Center for the Public Interest embodies this commitment, directing the firm's strong pro bono program and other forms of civic and philanthropic engagement. Through these efforts, the center addresses significant social problems and offers meaningful assistance to low-income and other marginalized people, along with the organizations that advocate for and support them. This work engages the full range of the firm's talents and reflects the core values that imbue all of the firm's efforts: to perform work of the highest quality in a manner that maximizes results for our clients and causes.

About Lowenstein Sandler LLP
Lowenstein Sandler is a national law firm with over 350 lawyers based in New York, Palo Alto, New Jersey, Utah, and Washington, D.C. The firm represents leaders in virtually every sector of the global economy, with particular emphasis on investment funds, life sciences, and technology. Recognized for its entrepreneurial spirit and high standard of client service, the firm is committed to the interests of its clients, colleagues, and communities.

About The Housing Justice Program at Rutgers Law School
The Housing Justice Program at Rutgers Law School strives to improve living conditions for low- and middle-income tenants, foster housing stability, and cultivate a new generation of advocates. The Program partners with community-based organizations to provide representation and advice to individuals and groups fighting for housing justice.