In an editorial, three housing groups come out against the Hoboken rent control referendum on the November 5th ballot, alleging dishonest campaign tactics by the other side.
In a shameful display of deception, an anti-rent control landlords’ group is trying to undermine the very fabric of our community by co-opting the name of the Hoboken Fair Housing Association (HFHA), a nonprofit that has fought for decades to protect renters and tenant rights in Hoboken.
By falsely using the name Hoboken Fair Housing as their Instagram handle thus associating themselves with the HFHA, this powerful real estate lobby is attempting to mislead voters into supporting a ballot referendum that would decimate rent protections.
This isn’t just a political maneuver; it’s an outright assault on the renters who make up a significant portion of our city.
The landlords’ group, Miles Square Taxpayers Association (MSTA) backed by wealthy developers and portfolio/corporate landlords, is using dirty tricks to trick voters—particularly renters—into voting against their own interests.
By falsely claiming they are “supporting affordable housing,” they collected signatures for a referendum that would actually dismantle key rent protections. If they truly believed their proposal was beneficial for Hoboken, they wouldn’t lie.
They wouldn’t piggyback off the trusted name of the Hoboken Fair Housing Association, which spent years defending the rights of renters.
This underhanded attempt to deceive the public is grotesque, and we must call it what it is: a manipulation of democracy and an attack on renters.
At the core of their dishonest proposal is a loophole designed to benefit landlords.
The referendum would allow landlords to raise rents on their rent-controlled properties to the maximum/unrestricted market rate by making a minimal $2,500 contribution (less than the average monthly rent in Hoboken) to the Hoboken Affordable Housing Trust Fund when a tenant leaves or is pushed out.
This will jack up rents across the city and eliminate any and all existing affordable rentals in Hoboken in short order as the property owner exchanges a $2,500 payment for a permanent windfall.
For renters living below market rate—working families, longtime residents, seniors on fixed incomes—this spells displacement. This is not a solution for affordable housing; it’s a gift to developers who prioritize profits over people.
The Hoboken Fair Housing Association (HFHA), alongside Hoboken United Tenants (HUT), strongly condemns this referendum and the tactics used to promote it.
Collectively these two groups have the active participation of both longtime and newer residents – owners and renters alike.
They are urging everyone to vote NO on the ballot question, not only to preserve affordable housing but to protect our neighbors from being pushed out of the homes they’ve lived in for years.
This is a fight for the future of Hoboken—a fight to keep our community diverse, fair, and accessible to all.
Remember: this ballot initiative is designed to benefit real estate developers/investors, not renters.
If the anti-rent control lobby succeeds, Hoboken will become even more unaffordable, pushing out the very people who make this city vibrant and inclusive. We cannot let that happen.
For those voting by mail, please note the question is on the back of the ballot. A vote NO on this referendum is a vote to protect Hoboken’s renters, preserve affordability, and ensure that our city remains a place for everyone—not just the wealthy.
Let’s not be fooled by the deceitful tactics of a group more interested in their bottom line than in the well-being of Hoboken’s residents. Protect your neighbors. Protect your city. Vote NO on the anti-rent control referendum.
The HFHA, an affiliate of the New Jersey Tenants Organization (NJTO), stands united with renters. Together we will continue to fight for the fair and just protections that Hoboken deserves.
Hoboken Fair Housing Association
Hoboken United Tenants
New Jersey Tenants Organization
Oh poor 100,000 k a year Rent Control squatters crying about using a vernacular
What losers…
Strange that all three of these organizations are essentially run by the same two people, yet they purposefully leave out their main sponsor, the anti semetic Socialists of America, if you’re going to take DSA leadership and money, maybe own up to that before throwing stones at other.
Wow, Glad the Socialists wrote this story, I went to their IG account and now I’m voting yes! I tried to find something for HFHA, but nothing. Just something by “HUT” which is deeply connected to Defund The Police Socialist, Anti Israel , Zion haters from Jersey City
Here they are: https://hudsoncountyview.com/jersey-city-residents-voice-strong-demand-to-defund-the-police-during-council-meeting/
https://jcitytimes.com/council-meeting-ends-in-defeat-for-police-de-funders/
https://north.dsanj.org/palestine/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/25dEjebANTPWvZR9/
This gang are supporters of the same protestors who want to tear down statues in Columbus park, Stop Kids from playing on swings in Church Sq Park and the HFHA supposedly has ZERO Black members in it’s top ranks.
Those are some very crude and misleading comments above. But they’re typical of the landlord lobby. Anything to distract from the real issue. The important thing to remember is that if you care at all about the skyrocketing rents in Hoboken, you’ll know that it’s important to VOTE “NO” on the Hoboken Ballot Question on or before election day, November 5th.
If you own a condo in Hoboken it is in your best financial interest to not YES.
Allowing rents to increase to market rate when vacant will increase the value of your investment.
lets not forget that tony pretends to be a friend of the community but he is just a former failed councilman who doesnt care about anything but his realestate business. screw u tony
sincerely,
renters of hoboken
LAst time the tenants went nuts they almost lost- perhaps they should have left things as they were, but then they brought in Rafi, Jenny and a bunch of lunatics!
Bring Back Cheryl and the OG from rent control. They know better
Readers, take a look at those top three comments above. Notice that they were all written
within a few minutes of each other. What that shows you is that all three of them were almostcertainly written by the same person. And that person is almost certainly Ron Simoncini, the longtime landlord PR flack and busybody who flits from town to town over the state of New Jersey trying to decimate rent control and put people out of their homes.
You’ve no doubt heard of MSTA — the “Mile Square Taxpayers Association.” Don’t fool yourself: There is no “association” to this entity. MSTA is one person: Ron Simoncini. He takes money from landlords to lie, cheat, deceive and confuse the public, and allegedly to oversee referendums with forged signatures. (In 2013, the mayor of Neptune, NJ publicly stated that he wanted Simoncini “behind bars” — his words, not mine — for conducting an initiative that was found to have had hundreds of forgeries.)
When Simoncini and others of his ilk talk about “market rates” and “the market,” they think
they’re waving a magic wand that justifies and normalizeѕ charging stratospheric dollar amounts in rent extractions from working- and middle-class people with real jobs.
“The market” was supposed to be about competition, but here’s what “the market” really is: It’s the price-fixing software used by landlords throughout the country and made by RealPage – the company that was sued in an antitrust action by the DOJ just a few weeks ago. That’s “the market” today.
Beware of the old chestnut about rich Wall-streeter tenants earning 100k, soaking poor mom-and-pop landlords – it’s an unproven lie. Their newest tactic tries to smear tenant activists as “anti-semites,” “DSA commies” and “defund-the-police-ers.” This rhetoric isn’t ust laughably false, it’s meant to distract you from their deception, their greed, their lies about how they’re going to manifest their wonderful dream of “affordable housing.”
Most important of all, remember to VOTE “NO” — Vote “NO” on the ballot question in Hoboken in the November 5th election, and send lying landlord lobbyists packing.
Pea brain activists
Are you taking strategy guidance from DINO’s like Tiffany
This is just about rent control. Any person of any color, any religion, any political party, any gender can be for rent control. Stay with the program. This is JUST ABOUT maintaining rent control’s strong laws on the book. This is about not destroying rent control. This is not about a particular type of person or organization or party. Stick to the subject at hand please. Prejudice has no place here to try and distort and twist the actual facts of this ballot question.
Yeah Mary sure, then why do you and your little gang never speak about real affordable housing like The Housing Authority?
You and your group keep the minorities out while you all keep sweet deals for yourselves.
Dry up.
Dry up again.
See Mary, you are right, the Jersey City Communist Anti Israel Jew haters in DSOA are only concerned with expanding their ideology here
They don’t care about rent control for you
Dry Up,
I’m for rent control and more affordable, so I will be voting YES!!!!