Slumlord Accountability Plan


Too many Jersey City residents have shared their stories of living under negligent landlords—stories where the tenants suffer the consequences, while the property owners face little to no accountability. As Mayor, I will ensure that slumlords are held responsible for their actions and that tenants are protected, supported, and heard.


1. Prioritize Chronic Violators

We will identify landlords with multiple open violations and escalate enforcement actions. This includes:


2. Streamlined Enforcement Tracking

We will overhaul the city’s case tracking and transparency systems to ensure tenants are updated throughout the complaint process—from initial filing on SeeClickFix through resolution. We will:


3. Expand Resources and Staff Capacity

We will increase staffing and funding for the Office of Code Compliance (OCC) to ensure swift and effective enforcement. Past proposals have shown that doubling enforcement budgets directly improves results, and we will follow that model.


4. Public Slumlord Registry

We will create a publicly accessible online registry listing landlords with unresolved violations. This will empower tenants, community groups, and housing advocates to take informed action and protect renters.


5. Tenant Support and Legal Aid Access

We will strengthen the Right to Counsel program and expand tenant legal clinics to help renters file petitions—such as illegal rent increases or failure to maintain habitable conditions—and to represent them in court against negligent landlords.


6. Swift Action for Habitability Issues

We will prioritize urgent habitability cases such as:

The city will expedite abatement or repairs through court orders or direct intervention, with costs billed back to the landlord.


7. Public Accountability and Transparency

We will publish quarterly public reports detailing:


This plan ensures that landlords are held to their legal and moral obligations—and that tenants have the full support of the city when their rights are violated.