##VIDEO ID:f2EWjd_fdPo## a [Music] [Music] my name is Charlie prto and I am sitting in for the chairperson of Bayon rent control welcome to the January 21st 2025 public hearing of the Bayon run control please all rise for the pledge of allegiance to our flag plge Al flag United States of America to the rep na indivisible andice at this time I would like to ask jacn Barber to do a roll call Board member clapsy Pres board member chadam Nichols pres board member strong Kemp absent board member Charlie peretto presid board member Bergos absent board member Tina ciano present the r board complies with the Sunshine Law of the state of New Jersey notice of this evening's meeting has been filed with City Clerk and notice has been posted on the bolon board in the municipal building tonight the court stenographer is not present however the meeting is being recorded the addresses to be read for a mass vote are those applications that the board members have reviewed individually without discussion and have found to be the subject of a requested action and in compliance with the rent control ordinance's requirements if for some reason anyone has a question or problem with one of these applications when the address is read simply raise your hand and address and and the address will be stricken from the mass vote and heard separately please listen carefully for your address no application will be heard once the board members have voted and the public clearing is closed no tenant complaints tonight have been settled um today permanent decontrol hearing will be for 40 East 15 Street are you luxury living Jackie um is the here I am um and landlord yes and counil yes okay right yeah am I allowed to be heard yeah right hand left hand does matter okay I I do I Christina Cruz um do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you yes I do so don't you um give us your full name and address my name is Christina Cruz uh formerly known as gergus I live at 40 East 15th Street Apartment One with my three children and let me just ask you so that we're all the same page sure did you you subed aop of land app I did okay I did and you did you submitted this official written appeal of I did which was very emotionally charged by the way I sure did yes later I'll let and just the important things that I just want to touch on are pretty much what I said in there but just with a little more clarity a little bit of a better thought so that way I can be we will thank you so much I will sign that for you ask question later okay you want me to sign it right now I just need you to say that that what it was yes okay okay okay I have to read my introduction okay hello my name is Christina Cruz formerly known as Christina gergus and I am the tenant at 40 East 15 Street for the last 13 years and I would just like to make a few key points before you before you make your decision tonight I've lived in Bayon my whole entire life I work as a special education teacher at woodro Wilson in The ASD program I attended Holy Family Academy and this is my home and because of the rent control I've been able to keep Bon my home and I've been able to give back to my community in ways I never thought I would be possible uh the first point that I want to make is that when Mr Malik purchased the building he knowingly did so with a rent controlled tenant the current lease that he is operating under clearly states that him and I both understand that the tenant is rent controlled me uh you have a copy of that current lease I believe I attached it to yes I have made several attempts to attain records and nothing sometimes I know people get busy and it's hard for me to get the record that I was trying to get but even though without the record at the moment I'm sure that it could be obtained by somebody on the council um at some point my name was legally added to the rent control rool index by the municipality uh from the month of June to September 2011 the apartment had been under renovation for my move in during that time the building itself was completely empty I was the first and only tenant during that time I was added in to the Rolodex or roster legally by your office which could have been denied if it was not valid if it was not a valid update it could have been denied by the office but it was not I actually never would have had it as per the city's website it states very clearly the only way to decontrol an apartment is by eviction which he's already tried to do or willingly leaving and that is what is posted on the city's municipal site nothing States if you moved in or this or it doesn't State anything like that there's two ways to get out of your rent control eviction or willingly leaving which brings me to my next point I have done neither of those but Mr M filed for eviction for back rent that was not paid due to a lack of repair in October before he even took control of the building before he was even under ownership of the building we went to court and we are currently still in litigation the back rent is with my attorney in escrow Mr mik has made no effort to make the court ordered repairs or even remove the snow or ice from the property from the last three snows Mr Malik's main goal is to bully harass and intimidate me into leaving this was prompted by a call that I made to the city asking if he had permits for the remodeling and renovation he was doing above me I was faced with a major leak Monsoon of water Mr Malik was not helpful especially when I asked for his cooperation with my rentals insurance because I had lost almost $2,000 in valuables because of it when I reached out I begged to remain anonymous so that I would not face retaliation like I have been and like I am right now the office promised he wouldn't know it was me but they lied the day after I started receiving notices that said I was in violation and it started with because a tenant called the city so there's no better way to say hey I'm doing this because you did that this followed many threats and even a camera pointing right at my door there is no denying what is happening here and why Mr Malik has been Relentless in his retaliation tracking down my landlord and obtaining our release and conversation records from 10 years AG ago sounds a little personal to me doesn't it what if I suffered another major mess up from his contractors especially if he can't work with my insurance should I just keep taking losses at his expense he even forced me to give away my mother's dog who passed away in may he forced me to get rid of her because in the current Le it says that the current dog needs to be just the current dog and I explained to him that I only have the dog because my my mom died it's my mom's dog so I found a place for the dog to go I've honored everything that he's asked me to but this is just one thing I have to fight back for during our day at court Mr Malik mentioned many times to my attorney how much of a slam dunk his win is going to be here in the rent control hearing he mentioned it so many times that it made me uncomfortable how much of a slam dunk is it why do you feel so confident do you know something that I don't it didn't feel very fair and it didn't feel very just to close I just want to thank you for giving me your undivided attention tonight I know these decisions shouldn't be easy but he made it seem like they are I was born in this town I work here we play here my kids go to school here and if you DEC control the unit it's going to eventually push me out of the town we can't afford to live here anymore and if you don't know me I guarantee someone you know our love does and we are all probably friends Mr Malik will walk out of here and go back to whatever town he is from and you probably won't see him again but you will see me you will see me in SHO right you will see me out to eat at your favorite restaurant you will see me when you're bringing your grandkid to school because there's a chance I might be their teacher you're going to see me cuz we're supposed to be all in this together I do not want to believe that the board would give an outsider the power to try destroy one of their very own and if you do decide to decontrol the unit I am aware that the city only allows a landlord in this town to raise a rent 5.5% per year he wouldn't be getting much of a raise but it's still enough to cause a major inconvenience the apartment is nowhere near a market value rent it is almost falling apart and any repairs I make them myself like I said he has lacked to make repairs since he's bought the building he does not even remove the snow in the front um and if you do decide to decontrol the unit I would ask that you don't do it until September of 2025 because I moved in in September I have made several Capital Improvements to the apartment on my own out of my own pocket I've never come here or asked the landlord to to reimburse me or anything like that because that's my home I bought home two babies from the hospital there I don't want to leave my aunt lives next door with my very elderly grandmother who you guys all probably know she worked in the diner for the last 40 years so this is where I live so I can't understand why anybody would be okay with completely just decontrolled on a conversation he got probably very personally charged and I think that's all I have to say thank you for listening oh okay [Music] sure yes into this unit on September in September 2011 yes yes it is but like I stated I had been if you look at the emails that Mr mik submitted you'll see that I was in conversation back and forth with the landlord about renovating the apartment basically to my liking from June until September when I moved in and the biggest thing that I would love to just reiterate is the fact that if I shouldn't have had it when I moved in I wouldn't have had it I would not have had it the building was empty it would have never even been so this is a it's just very aggressive to the to and we were just in court last month and like I said I'm still I'm still waiting and I know I said I was going to bring my attorney but truthfully if I had an extra $1,500 I would not be in here fighting for my rent control um no I don't I don't intend to call uh Mr mik um do you no no we don't no we don't askp questions sure I could have him come up and you can ask him uh any questions you'd like uh I think that the board understands what's uh uh what the question uh that we're presenting and uh Mr Malik if you come up Jeffrey mik uh m a l e k correct I do I do not correct who paid that um the prior landlord it was under her name the landlord correct correct it was under her name correct uh those were done by the prior landlord so those were done a couple weeks before September before her moveing no it was another lady I know it was on the affidavit I sent I don't remember the name but she had somebody else there who was a family friend she moved out then she posted did the repairs and then Miss Cruz I believe moved in September so Cruz was not there at the time of correct yes I do thank you I just want to make a just a a short statement based on the testimony uh that you've heard heard you know the question that we're here for although um Miss Cruz uh you know um presented her uh her case very thoroughly uh the question really is very simple this board's jurisdiction is very limited we're not hear about rent increases we're not hear about repairs we're not here about ice we're here to determine whether or not a tenant who moved into uh this apartment after the expiration of the bayed rent control ordinance in June of 2011 is subject to the prote of the existing rent control law the answer is no um although again there may be other issues between Miss Cruz and her current land lord uh the law is very clear a tenant who moves into an apartment after the expiration of the ban rent Control Ordinance uh does not get the protections of that rent control office uh rent Control Ordinance if there's any other decision from the board it would be a mistake of law thank you I have no problem yeah no it's totally fine I understand what he's saying that it is oh you know it's a slam dunk so to speak but at the same time we have to recognize the facts are the facts that building was completely empty it's a five family building the building was completely empty and at the same time if the unit is decontrolled you'd be going against exactly what it says on your website that there is no way to decontrol unless evicted or willingly leaving thank you and it was at the landlord's discre sorry everyone ready to vote on this application yes okay can I get a motion to authorize the board attorney to prepare a resolution or opinion granting the application for permanent decontrol I need a motion I'll make a motion second I'll second motion is passed I'll take a roll call um board member clapsy approve board member chadam Nichols approve board member Shan Kemp not present board member bergo is not present board member BTO approved board member cisano approved so theol is approved let me just out of fairness let me just explain to you because we're going to have a resolution um um and you could stay if you want to hear sir so here's I want you to understand that you were heard and I'm I I know but so let me just explain to you why as the lawyer here just because I want to be fair with you and have you understand this we are not unsympathetic to your story we always are so but let me just say um you're you're not incorrect that to decontrol someone who's subject to the rent control statute who is a rent controlled tenant those two instances apply the problem in your case is there's also a way to De permanently decontrol and that is Define that someone is not even a rent controlled tenant to begin with so once you're a rent controled tenant those Provisions about deont controlling will apply to you the problem is under Section 16- 1.1 effective date of the ordinance the town of the city of Bon rolled back its rent Control Ordinance effective June 30th 2011 and in that section if you read it it says that they lifted rent control for residential tenants as of June 30th 2011 so they lifted rent control for anybody who was covered as of June 30th 2011 mean nobody in unit in Bon was rent controlled as 2011 except except for rental units that housed residential tenants as of June 30th 2011 would remain subject to rent control by virtue of their occupancy so any rent control any tenant who was living in a unit that was that was no longer within the statute those people who were there prior to June 30th by virtue of their occupancy were entitled to remain a rent controlled tenant for those sort of people they would have to be evicted Andor voluntarily leave you no I'm just giving you an answer you by your own admission did not move in and occupy that apartment until September of 2011 and everyone agrees to that and it doesn't matter that you were negotiating or talking about it before you have to actually be in there living in the apartment and the 13 years that I spent there under control it's well you weren't that's the problem the problem is we don't know that you're rent controlled until someone comes and says hey this happens all the time that people think you the law is what establishes whether you're rent controlled or not the landlord and the Tenant cannot agree that you're going to be rent controlled if the law you can agree to pay a certain amount of rent but you can't come to the board and agree with your landlord that you're going to be subject that's governed by the statute and you know and we have no reason until someone comes to us and says he there's a mistake which the landlord didn't he said hey this this should not be rent controlled we don't know that to look into it once somebody teas it up for us then we come and we fix it or we address it and that's what happened here so I know this is difficult for you and I Know It's upsetting for you it is what it is and and we just we're bound to enforce the law I just want to confirm that the city does follow the CPI index at 5.5 per year it's not 5.5 it's it's capped at that it it varies and we follow it goes up or down or both depends depends it's governed by the CPI if you read the statute it's governed by the CPI so so that's the 5.5 is only towards the cap toward rent control tenants if you're not a rent control tenant then it's on the discretion of the landlord so now so I can't we can't give you any more legal advice the under the the CPI as far as we're control car Carri is is is the provision is not necessarily 5.5 it varies all right thank you so much you're very welcome thank you for coming all right I'm going to call for a motion to close and to adjourn the meeting um board member clapsy motion close um Mo uh board member chadam Nichols motion to close motion to close um board member prto motion to close Mo member cisano motion to close me a 7 23