31-game Jeopardy! champion Jamie Ding, a multifamily and tax credit program administrator at the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, shot a video with Assemblywoman Katie Brenna to highlight her recent housing affordability bills.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Right now, if you live in a rent controlled building, your landlord doesn’t have to tell you. They can quietly raise your rent past the legal limit and hope you don’t notice,” Brennan said in the video that has been uploaded to her social media pages.
“Even if they do get caught, they’ll put waivers in your lease saying you can’t sue them. My bills fix that. If you get an apartment in a rent controlled building, your landlord should tell you. And if your landlord breaks the law, they shouldn’t be able to stop you from suing them.”
Brennan’s bills include the Rent Control Transparency Act (A-3998)and the No Class Action Waivers in Leases Act (A-3997). Both bills were referred to the Assembly Housing Committee and have not been heard yet.
The first requires landlords to disclose to tenants whether their unit is subject to rent control, while the second bars landlords from using lease clauses to block tenants from joining class action lawsuits.
Ding, also a Princeton graduate and self-described “faceless bureaucrat,” called out predatory landlord practices on camera.
“What is, ‘something that should definitely be illegal,’” he said in the clip.
After Ding switches categories to New Jersey’s housing supply, the video previews Brennan’s next round of housing bills focused on increasing supply.
Those include single stair reform, legalizing accessory dwelling units (ADUs), and zoning reform to allow for “missing middle” housing.
