Thank you, very much, for the insight. I will definitely follow all of your advice!

Has anyone been through Hudson County LT Court? I've been a Downtown renter for over a decade and this will be my first experience. Have done a ton of research, but was hoping someone had "real life" advice.

Essentially, LL is a large company that has been discussed here. In February, our front steps collapsed and they put in temp steps until spring when it was warm enough to work. That revealed that our facade pulling away from the front of the building, significantly -- over 2 in between brick and my front window, bricks at the bottom crumbling. Over the winter, due to that and poor insulation during renovations, we paid outrageous heating bills ($285-350/month).
In May, knowing that these things take time and this is a massive project (rebuilding the steps and facade), I started pleading for work to commence before the cold set in, forcing me to pay even higher heating bills. Again, I was put off.
In June, I called Construction Code, who issued a dangerous living conditions violation. They got the architect and engineer out to draw up plans, but no work commenced, claiming further delays that turned out to be untrue.
In late September, I emailed (and was acknowledged) that due to these conditions and lack of work, I would not be paying rent until our facade and steps were fixed, due to them forcing me to pay higher heating bills. Suddenly, scaffolding went up and that was all.
Meanwhile, the building has gotten worse. Their surveyor came out and said the problem was "much worse" than he was told due to "their long-term neglect." (The original permit application for the facade that was never acted on goes back to '08.) During all of this, there have been many, many email exchanges to the LL notifying them of the progressive degeneration.
This month, I sent them a long letter pointing out the code violations and they have forced us into a partial constructive eviction situation. I made it clear that I would start paying again once the building was up to code. Construction came out again and they failed a subsequent inspection.
I received a boilerplate message saying that they would be commencing eviction proceedings for non-payment. I wrote back saying that I was more than willing to find a compromise. I think knocking off a certain amount to accommodate my increased heating bills is fair. Instead, I found out today that they are commencing a Non-Payment eviction.

I know that in NJ, there is a non-payment hearing and then (if there are grounds for it), a rent abatement hearing. I'm hoping I have grounds for this?
I've lived in many apartments but have never had to deal with anything of this magnitude. I have a ton of emails, photos and other proof but am concerned I'll be scrambling to not be on the street.

Thanks.

Thanks! I started documenting as soon as our steps collapsed. Hopefully, the threat of abatement will be enough. I am trying to get Construction Code on the phone to come down ASAP as my husband pointed out this morning that the facade's middle is bowing out.

I am at the end of my rope with these guys. Wondering if anyone else is experiencing similar issues with them and if they got any positive results.

Essentially, they sent workers to clear the steps of snow/ice during the rough winter. They salted the concrete steps instead of shoveled and after a few months, the concrete that was salted disintegrated and caused serious damage to the steps.
The upstairs tenant and I both notified Dixon, who put in temp steps with the understanding that once the weather warmed, they'd put in "real" steps. We still have the temp steps (now warping). After a guest of the upstairs tenant was injured after tripping on the temp last month, the project manager came by and assured us that they were working on the issue but there was a paperwork/permit delay as we are Downtown. Found out yesterday that the landlord was cited three weeks ago by the city for not making the repairs in a timely fashion. Still, no work has commenced. I have pictures of everything.
Yesterday, while bringing garbage cans in, I noticed that the facade is crumbling. Bricks on the bottom are coming away/popping out and there are large cracks running up the front. Called the project manager immediately, who assured me that someone would come by to take a look. No one did. The upstairs neighbor called the property manager and similarly got nowhere and no verbal assurance that this will be fixed. I have email chains going back to the winter about the damage. Clearly, this cannot continue and I don't feel like I can passively wait any longer.
Realistically, what are my choices? My inclination is to email the property manager and let her know that unless *something* is started today, beginning tomorrow I will start pro-rating rent abatement (and put the rent in escrow/another account). Unfortunately, because we always pay on time, June is already paid for. After that, call Housing Code Enforcement?
I have lived in JC for over a decade and have never had a LL this negligent. I did not want to go down this path but checking Yelp, tenants in other buildings have had to take them to court for remediation.

Thanks. This lack of infrastructure planning by the administration has me concerned. New parks and pedestrian plazas are great, but I'd rather the money go into less sexy projects like a surge storage system.

Ah, I didn't realize they were combined. I am not trying to pull a "gotcha," but just trying to figure out what they're saying is correct. Last week I found out that a permit they told me was held up in red tape never got filed so now I feel like I need to question everything. It's just such a drag.

As an aside, do you know if anything is being done (or if anything can be done -- I know little about these things) to deal with the situation if another Sandy-like storm should hit, given our recent population influx? If it was this bad last night,
I shudder to think what would happen with a "real" storm

Thanks for letting me know! I hate that I have to verify all their statements to me at this point so I appreciate your reply. Looking at their Yelp reviews, this neglect is endemic to the company (locally, anyway).

Did anyone else deal with their outside drains backing up yesterday (ie, brownstone/single family)? We got very close to flooding last night because ours wasn't working. My LL told me the entire city's drainage was backed up, causing no drains to work. This, frankly, smacks of bullshit to me so wondering if anyone else faced it.
As an aside, I've been a JC renter for many years and this is the first time I've dealt with a mega corporate landlord (as opposed to a local property manager/landlord). I highly caution people against it if there's the choice. I won't go down the laundry list because they are too identifiable to anyone Downtown, but unless it's a hair on fire emergency, nothing gets done. The building looks like a squat -- which would be okay if I paid squatter's prices. Now people are dumping their garbage (and not just the odd soda can) because the building looks dilapidated.
I grew up in a city and so while I get people tossing an empty..whatever as they pass by, we're talking garbage-garbage. It's frustrating because my husband and I are good tenants -- pay our rent a day early, not loud, don't cause damage, do what we reasonably can to make the place nice. Our last apartment's landlord was elderly and lived in Chelsea, so we'd do the weeding out front, etc. Now we're counting the days until we can vacate this place. Sorry this got rant-y....just frustrated.

Coming late to this one but I adore Bonnie's Maids. I am not sure of other's experiences, but I love 'em. My "Godliness is next to cleanliness" MIL came and I called Bonnie's. Place was spotless and thought Ray was really nice, prompt and very reasonably priced. I use them every time my place needs sprucing.

Thank you for the info.

Only the ones that are too sick or violent to be adopted.

It very clearly does state that. The new contract will ?keep for redemption and destroying of all animals found within the municipal limits when there is no public pound.?
"Pound" and "animal control" is a nice way of saying "kill." Where do you think the cuts will come? What do you think taking a step backwards implies? How will they take care of the flood of animals when their budget has been slashed by 25%?
Please do not try to minimize or cloud the issue.

There is this article:
http://hudsonreporter.com/view/full_s ... nce=jersey_city_top_story

I don't know who to voice my disapproval to or what the most effective means would be.

Longtime resident and was a very active Fulop supporter as I adored him as my councilman. However, I am very disturbed by the LHS news. First the EMS, then Loews and now this. We're getting shiny and new additions to JC that make excellent headlines while the infrastructure clearly cannot handle the uptick. Turning LHS into a kill shelter is going way too far. I adopted two animals from there and this issue hits very close to home. The shelter needs help but to take this step backwards? Even Bloomberg was aiming for NYC to be no kill. And vver a few thousand dollars when we're spending tens of millions on superficial improvements? Is there anything that can be done?

My fear is that Fulop is using JC as a springboard for governor and us residents will be left with the mess in 3 years.

JP -- Please check your messages. Thank you!

Without getting too into things, I am a former employee. They have refused to pay me for training (federally mandated) as well as furnish tax documents. I am seeking others who have also had this experience.
Thank you.

As a long time resident (and native to the other side of the river), I thank you for not suggesting I go back to a place I've never been. I'm in a rental, so there's not much I guess I can do, but thanks for the advice. Guess I'll invest in earplugs...

I am an at home freelancer working/living Downtown. The noise from the construction level around here is excessive. Definitely above the 65 decibel threshold. Anybody have advice on what I can do? (Besides going to a coffee shop)