PRESS ADVISORY

New Jersey Public Advocate to address Tenants Rights at "Tenants 101" meeting

ELIZABETH -- On Thursday, October 29, New Jersey Public Advocate Ronald K. Chen, who has worked to educate tenants about their rights when the property in which they are living is in foreclosure, will participate in a "Tenancy 101" educational session hosted by the Union County Board of Freeholders Foreclosure Task Force and the Elizabeth Coalition to House the Homeless.

The Department of the Public Advocate launched its tenant protection project in late 2008 to spread the word that tenants don't necessarily have to move when the property in which they are living goes into foreclosure. New Jersey's tenants protection laws, among the strongest in the country, allow tenants to stay in their homes when a property is foreclosed on by a bank or mortgage company.

Since then, the Department has worked closely with community organizations, local law enforcement, county sheriffs, the courts and the Office of the Attorney General to protect tenant rights during foreclosures.  In addition, the Department has worked directly with about 160 tenants throughout New Jersey to help them protect their rights and has blanketed local agencies with more than 20,000 brochures that give tenants the information they need to protect their own rights.

The "Tenants 101" panel, which will also include representation from Central Jersey Legal Services, will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Elizabeth Coalition to House the Homeless headquarters at 118 Division Street, Elizabeth, NJ 07201.