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A yearlong CBS investigation found that New York City may be forcing those living in homeless shelters there to move into homes in New Jersey cities, including Newark. The city pays landlords in New Jersey a year's rent for those who are relocated.
But CBS found evidence of problems at the apartments the relocated families were sent to, including a lack of heat or hot water.
In response, Newark passed a law, slated to take effect Dec. 14., requiring notice from New York so homes can be inspected. The law also prohibits more than a one-month rent voucher be paid to prevent landlords from receiving an entire year's worth up front. Newark has received 1,200 homeless families under the program.
New York homeless families have also been relocated to Irvington, Orange and East Orange, and those cities now plan to pass their own versions of Newark's law, CBS 2 reported.
“It’s incumbent upon us to make sure that in this uneven bargaining power that we leverage some part of the municipality to say at least it’s going to be a decent living space,” Orange Mayor Dwayne Warren told the station.
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