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The City Council has approved a rent control ordinance which would limit rent increases in covered units to 3.5 percent annually. If the inflation rate, as measured by the Consumer Price Index [CPI] exceeds 3.5 percent, then rents would be capped at the CPI. 

The vote was 5-0. 

The issue was suddenly elevated when the Asbury Park Affordable Housing Coalition (APAHC) submitted the required number of signatures on a petition in November to place their own rent control ordinance on the ballot in a public referendum, which is scheduled for April 20. 

Councilwoman Eileen Chapman said that the council sought to work out a compromise with the affordable housing coalition and landlords and avoid the referendum. 

However, “we realized they were miles apart in their philosophies,” Chapman said. “We need to find a middle ground.” So the council moved forward with their own rent control ordinance that Chapman says balances everyone’s interests.  

However, representatives of APAHC said during the public hearing on the ordinance that the council’s measure did not go far enough to protect tenants, and they urged passage of their own proposal. 

If the APAHC ordinance is approved by voters on April 20, it will replace the council’s rent control ordinance. In addition, the voter-approved rent control ordinance cannot be amended by the council for three years, as per state law. The council can amend its own ordinance at any time. 

The proposed APAHC ordinance caps rent increases at the CPI, with increases not allowed over 4 percent. 

Both the council’s and the APAHC proposal allows landlords to charge more for capital improvements, but those plans have to be approved by a Rent Leveling Board. The board would handle the administration of the rent control regulations under both proposed ordinances, as well as requests for any hardship rent increases by landlords exceeding the rent caps. 

The Rent Leveling Board under the council ordinance has seven members – with at least two tenants and at least two landlords. The affordable housing coalition also has seven board members, but with four tenants and three landlords. 

Also differing in the proposals is vacancy decontrol, which allows a landlord to raise the rent to market levels when a tenant leaves. The new rent set for the new tenant would then be subject to the rent caps. The proposed council ordinance allows vacancy decontrol. The affordable housing coalition’s proposal does not allow vacancy decontrol. 

Another difference is that the council’s proposal applies rent control only to buildings with at least five rental units. The affordable housing advocates’ proposal covers almost all units rented in the city, including condominiums and single-family homes. (Both proposals exclude housing already subject to affordable housing regulations, such as affordable senior citizen housing or other housing provided by the Asbury Park Housing Authority. In addition, under state law new apartment buildings are exempt for 30 years.) 

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