Hoboken Housing Authority says 10 to 12 families face lockouts over unpaid rent in the next month

HOBOKEN, N.J. — The Hoboken Housing Authority expects to lock 10 to 12 families out of their apartments over the next month because they owe large amounts of back rent, Executive Director Marc Recko told the authority’s board Thursday night.

“There are going to be a number of families over the next month, 10 to 12, that will be locked out of their apartments because they owe us large amounts of money and they just refuse to pay or come to an agreement,” Recko said during his report at the Oct. 8 board meeting at Fox Hill Gardens. “And I know that’s not great news.”

What it means for residents

The lockouts are the last step in a court process, not a new policy, Recko said. Before a case reaches that point, the authority first offers an in-house repayment agreement, which can give a household up to 10 years to pay off what it owes. If a family breaks that deal, it is offered a second agreement, this time in front of a judge, which becomes a court order. That order states that if it isn’t honored, the judge will give the authority possession of the apartment.

Even then, Recko said, “should a resident pay the balance owed, the legal action by HHA would be withdrawn.”

He urged families who are behind to come in. The authority has been holding regular meetings with staff and its law firm, Fitzpatrick, to review overdue accounts, and Recko said dozens of residents have used them to keep their homes while paying down balances. Officials said families who are 30 to 60 days behind can usually work it out. “Folks that owe us a couple of grand, we work with,” Recko said. For households owing $30,000 to $40,000 or more, he said, “we’ve got to draw a line.”

Why the authority says it has to act

Recko said unpaid tenant balances have been “unacceptably high since the onset of COVID,” and that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is pressing the authority to bring them down. The authority runs on two main sources of money, federal operating subsidy and tenant rent, he said, so unpaid rent limits how much staff and service it can afford.

Public housing rent is set at 30% of a household’s adjusted income and can be lowered if a family loses income and reports it, Recko noted.

The authority’s unpaid-rent report currently shows about $1.3 million owed, officials said at the meeting, and that total is expected to drop by about half a million dollars, to roughly $800,000, once the coming lockouts are processed. “The number will go down, but not for the right reasons,” one official said.

“We never, ever wish to take a home away from a family,” Recko said. “And yet our residents also have the responsibility as well to pay their fair share.”

Other updates from the director

• The authority’s first redevelopment building, planned for Harrison and Fourth streets, could go before the Hoboken City Council for a redevelopment agreement on Oct. 21, staff said. A planning board application and financing would follow.
• Occupancy is holding at 95% to 96%, Recko said.
• The authority is studying concrete repairs to balconies and the outside of the Fox Hill Gardens building, which Recko called “a major safety issue.”
• Recko said he will be out for a few weeks for surgery and will work remotely.

Watch the full meeting on the Hoboken Housing Authority’s Facebook page.

Image: Hoboken Housing Authority meeting video on Facebook.