Jersey City says tenant right-to-counsel money is spent and seeks $36,757 more; 2023 plan promised $4 million a year

JERSEY CITY — The money Jersey City set aside this year to give free lawyers to low-income tenants facing eviction has been spent, according to a resolution before the City Council on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

Resolution 26-712 says the city’s 2026 contract with The Waterfront Project, Inc., the nonprofit that provides the lawyers under the Tenant Right to Counsel program, is used up: “all funds have been expended and it is necessary to amend the contract.” The contract, approved Nov. 12, 2025 (Res. 25-698), was for $328,000 and covers Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2026.

The Waterfront Project says the program has not stopped. “The original $328,000 has been fully allocated. There has been no pause in service,” Executive Director Vicky Hernandez said in a written response to Hudson TV. “We have taken Right to Counsel cases throughout the year without interruption.” She said the additional $36,757 “covers the remaining cost of operating the program through December 31 so we can continue at our current staffing and cover all related program expenses.”

The amendment adds $36,757, bringing the year’s total to $364,757, according to the resolution’s fact sheet, which lists approval by Housing, Economic Development and Commerce Director Annisia Cialone. The money comes from two accounts: $23,001.34 and $13,755.66.

The resolution’s own text contains an apparent error. It says the contract is increased “by an additional $36,757.00 for a total contract amount of $36,757.00.” The fact sheet and the nonprofit’s request letter both put the new total at $364,757.

In an Oct. 6 letter to Housing Preservation Division Director Colleen Smith, Hernandez asked for the increase to cover “the full cost of operating the first-year pilot” of the program. Her letter breaks it down:

The letter says the scope of services is not changing and the money will be spent by Dec. 31.

What was promised

The council adopted the right-to-counsel ordinance (Ordinance 23-047) in June 2023. That April, nj.com reported the program would have a $4 million annual budget, paid for by a 1.5% development fee on residential projects, and that officials expected it to represent about 1,500 tenants in court each year. In July 2023, Law360 reported that then-Councilman James Solomon, one of the sponsors and now the mayor, said the counsel office would receive $4 million a year and represent about 1,500 tenants a year once the laws were fully implemented, in about three years.

This year’s Waterfront Project contract, including the increase, comes to $364,757. Resolution 26-712 covers only that contract and does not say whether the city funds other right-to-counsel providers.

Who the program serves

Hernandez said the nonprofit is budgeted for three attorneys, “each dedicating 70 percent of their time to the program,” and expects to serve “about 500 Jersey City households by the end of the calendar year,” not counting households it serves elsewhere in Hudson County.

“We have not turned away any Jersey City household that reached out and met the income eligibility requirement for eviction defense services,” she said. “However, caseloads for our attorneys are very high, and we need to keep growing our capacity to meet the need.”

Hernandez cited New Jersey Department of Community Affairs figures showing “more than 5,700 eviction filings in Jersey City in 2025.” She said 2026 data has not been released, but the nonprofit expects the number to be higher based on court activity, call volume and year-over-year trends.

Asked what it would take to reach the roughly 1,500 a year described in 2023, Hernandez said serving 1,500 households “would take a team about three times the size of our current three attorneys.” She said the group is “planning incremental growth rather than a single leap” and is seeking resources beyond the Right to Counsel contract.

Next year

The Waterfront Project has requested funding to add a fourth attorney starting in January 2027 and a fifth in January 2028, Hernandez said. “Funding recommendations are made by the Jersey City Affordable Housing Trust Fund, so the City is the best source on where that process stands,” she said.

She described recent cases without naming clients. In one, a visually impaired senior came to court after being locked out of his apartment that day; he had never received the eviction notice, she said. The nonprofit filed an emergency motion the same day to vacate the default judgment, and the court ordered him restored to his apartment. Last week, she said, the group won dismissal of four cases against four tenants in the same Jersey City building, each of whom had lived there between 10 and 30 years, after their landlord sought to evict them for refusing to sign a lease with illegal provisions.

“City officials, from Mayor Solomon to members of the City Council, have remained committed to Right to Counsel, and we’re grateful for that,” Hernandez said.

The city

Hudson TV emailed city spokesperson Kimberly Wallace Scalcione on Saturday, Oct. 17, asking when the money ran out and whether any tenants were turned away or wait-listed; which total in the resolution is correct and whether it will be fixed before the vote; whether The Waterfront Project is the only right-to-counsel provider the city funds in 2026 and what the program’s total 2026 budget is; how much the residential development fee has raised for right to counsel; and whether the administration still plans to reach the $4 million, 1,500-tenant program described in 2023, and by when. A response will be added if received.

The council meets Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 6 p.m., according to the agenda.

Hudson TV asks: Should Jersey City grow its right-to-counsel program toward the 1,500 tenants a year described in 2023? Reply A: Yes, fund more lawyers. Reply B: No, keep it at its current size.
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