Did your town pay off Fair Share Housing Center’s lawyers to “settle” affordable housing threats?

Before it agrees to end its affordable housing litigation against a town, the Fair Share Housing Center‘s lawyers demand cash payments — ranging up to $100,000. The question arises as to whether these payments are a kind of “extortion” extracted from towns.

Questionable purpose of payments

Taxpayers in these towns are usually unaware they are paying off FSHC’s lawyers. Although these pay-offs are written into the signed agreements (which are public documents), it seems town officials like to keep the payments quiet.

What raises red flags is that the stated purpose for these payments varies across the agreements. It would seem the purpose would be consistent if the payments were legitimate and above board.

The payments

This is a partial list of payments New Jersey towns made to Fair Share Housing Center to settle the threat of affordable housing litigation. These payments have nothing to do with the actual construction or delivery of affordable housing.

A limited sampling of just 56 towns reveals payments of $854,250 to Fair Share Housing Center, in exchange for FSHC signing the deals. There are 565 municipalities in New Jersey. With your help, we’d like to include them all.

[List updated June 26, 2019. Updated figures in text appear in red.]

	MUNI	COUNTY	PAYMENT	Purpose of payment
1	Allendale	Bergen	$4,000	reasonable attorney's fees
2	Atlantic Highlands	Monmouth	$5,000	[none specified]
3	Barnegat	Ocean	$5,000	attorney fees
4	Berkeley Heights	Union	$15,000	[no purpose specified]
5	Bernards Township	Somerset	$15,000	attorneys fees and costs
6	Bernardsville	Somerset	$3,500	attorneys fees
7	Chatham	Morris	$15,000	attorneys fees and costs
8	Clinton Township	Hunterdon	$30,000	donation
9	Closter	Bergen	$5,000	[none specified]
10	Delran Township	Burlington	$25,000	attorney's fees
11	East Rutherford	Bergen	$7,500	attorneys fees and costs
12	Emerson	Bergen	$7,500	attorneys fee and costs
13	Far Hills	Somerset	$15,000	attorneys fees and costs
14	Franklin Lakes	Bergen	$25,000	[no purpose specified]
15	Franklin Township	Somerset	$5,000	[none specified]
16	Garwood	Union	$4,000	[none specified]
17	Green Brook	Somerset	$3,750	attorneys fee and costs
18	Greenwich	Warren	$5,000	donation
19	Haddonfield	Camden	$10,000	attorneys fees and costs
20	Haworth	Bergen	$7,500	attorneys fees and costs
21	Haworth	Bergen	$7,500	attorneys fees and costs
22	High Bridge	Hunterdon	$3,000	attorneys fees and costs
23	Hillsdale	Bergen	$4,500	ongoing legal expenses
24	Holmdel	Monmouth	$15,000	[no purpose specified]
25	Hopewell Township	Mercer	$50,000	[none specified]
26	Howell Township	Monmouth	$15,000	attorneys fees and costs
27	Lambertville	Hunterdon	$5,000	attorneys fees and costs
28	Lawrence Township	Mercer	$25,000	[none specified]
29	Long Hill Township	Morris	$5,000	attorneys fee and costs
30	Mahwah	Bergen	$20,000	[no purpose specified]
31	Maplewood	Essex	$5,000	[none specified]
32	Marlboro	Monmouth	$75,000	attorneys fees and costs
33	Mine Hill	Morris	$5,000	attorneys fees and costs
34	Montvale	Bergen	$25,000	payment of fees and costs
35	Montville Township	Morris	$45,000	attorney fees and costs
36	Moorestown	Burlington	$40,000	attorneys fees and costs
37	Morris Township	Morris	$15,000	attorneys fees and costs
38	Morristown	Morris	$4,000	attorney fees and costs
39	Mountain Lakes	Morris	$3,000	attorney fees and costs
40	North Caldwell	Essex	$7,500	[none specified]
41	Ocean City	Cape May	$15,000	attorneys fees
42	Oradell	Bergen	$5,000	attorneys fees and costs
43	Ramsey	Bergen	$7,500	attorneys fees and costs
45	Raritan Township	Hunterdon	$15,000	attorneys fees and costs
46	Red Bank	Monmouth	$7,500	attorneys fees and costs
47	Ridgewood	Bergen	$10,000	attorneys fees and costs
48	Scoth Plains	Union	$15,000	attorneys fees and costs
49	Teaneck	Bergen	$5,000	attorneys fee and costs
50	Waldwick	Bergen	$5,000	attorney's fees
51	Warren Township	Somerset	$50,000	attorneys fee and costs
52	Watchung	Somerset	$7,500	donation
53	West Windsor	Mercer	$100,000	attorneys fees and costs
54	Westfield	Union	$12,000	donation
55	Westwood	Bergen	$5,000	attorney fees and costs
56	Woodcliff Lake	Bergen	$7,500	attorneys fees and costs
	TOTAL PAYMENTS		$854,250	Cash into FSHC war chest

The 56 towns above agreed to pay FSHC an aggregate $854,250 to settle. This list is incomplete. There are 565 municipalities in New Jersey. Not all towns have settled with FSHC — but there are many more than listed above, so we don’t yet know how much in total FSHC’s lawyers have pulled down in such payments.

Who decides what the pay-off is — and its purpose?

The purpose of these payments is described in each agreement, but it varies without explanation.

Some towns agreed to reimburse FSHC for its “attorneys fees and costs.” Other towns, like Clinton Township in Hunterdon County, agreed to make a “donation” of taxpayer money to FSHC. Many payments were agreed to by municipal officials without stating any purpose.

Why does one town pay FSHC’s “attorneys fees and costs” of $50,000, while another town makes a “donation” of $30,000 — but pays no attorneys fees at all? Why do some towns pay nothing? Are their officials just better negotiators?

Perhaps most puzzling, why do the New Jersey Courts that approve these myriad agreements overlook the varying amounts and disparate purposes of these payments — and the fact that FSHC extracts payments of any kind?

Add your town to the list

If your town has settled with FSHC but is not listed, and you would like it added, you can obtain a copy of the “Fair Share Housing Center settlement agreement” from your municipal clerk. The document is public and cannot be legally withheld from you. You may need to submit an OPRA request to obtain it. Your town’s website may have the OPRA form available online. The settlement agreement must be delivered to you within 7 business days.

Please e-mail a link (preferred) to your town’s settlement agreement to admin@exmayor.com or e-mail a copy of the complete agreement. Or send both.

The pay-off is usually listed after the other main terms of the agreement are recited, usually in a paragraph numbered in the 20s. Here’s one example of what the clause agreeing to pay looks like, in West Windsor’s settlement agreement:

How much did your elected officials quietly pay FSHC’s lawyers to make a deal?

Thanks to all who have submitted settlement agreements for inclusion.

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