Builders sue 159 NJ towns to force new affordable housing construction

🏠 New Jersey builders to file 159 separate lawsuits to force construction

🏠 Marlboro mayor says builders shouldn't have any say

🏠 Lawmaker slams Gov. Murphy, says new law let it happen

One in four New Jersey towns are facing legal action from the largest group of builders and developers in the state over affordable housing obligations.

The New Jersey Builders Association is filing 159 complaints — each one against a separate municipality.

Jeff Kolakowski, CEO of the NJBA, said the towns were trying to skirt the law and ignore the affordable housing requirements handed down by the state Department of Community Affairs.

“We feel compelled to respond in order preserve the nearly 14,000 low- and moderate-income units that these 159 municipalities would seek to simply eliminate despite New Jersey’s established and pressing need for such affordable housing opportunities.”

Legal filings like recent ones from the NJBA, known as builder's remedy suits, have become a staple of the decades-long battle over affordable housing in New Jersey.

Many towns have pushed back on their obligations because, as local officials say, the DCA's requirements were too high and overestimated how much land they actually had for development.

Should builders have a say in affordable housing?

Marlboro Mayor Jonathan Hornik says New Jersey's affordable housing debate should be between towns and the state.

Hornik said that "builders have no place at the table" in deciding how many units of affordable housing are appropriate for a community.

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“The builders don’t care about the need for housing – they just want to build more – on every ounce of land -- and with the taxpayers on the hook for the infrastructure to support it. Developers get rich and generations of taxpayers foot the bill. This is outrageous," Hornik said.

Senator blames Gov. Murphy

A law signed in March 2024 by Gov. Phil Murphy amended the Fair Housing Act.

Part of the change required towns to file resolutions to approve of their affordable housing obligations by Jan. 31, 2025. If they did, it would protect them from lawsuits.

State Sen. Anthony Bucco, R-Morris, said that the law did the opposite.

"Instead of a simpler, more efficient system, the Democrats’ misguided efforts have now opened up towns across New Jersey to lawsuits that will force them to spend taxpayer dollars on attorney fees to litigate every one of these cases — and there will be hundreds of them," Bucco said.

Murphy's office did not respond to a request for comment.

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