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Weekly Housing News Roundup

Top Stories As economic headwinds continue across the U.S., housing access and affordability remain pressing concerns. This week’s top stories reflect both systemic challenges and promising policy responses, from slowing new construction to protective legislation and public health investments in housing. Housing Starts Decline Amid Economic Uncertainty Recent data shows a nationwide slowdown in new housing starts, driven by rising interest rates, labor shortages, and inflationary pressures. This cooling effect…

Women’s History Month

To honor Women’s History Month, we would like to highlight some of our incredible Women Leaders within our organization. Introducing Kayla Zimmer, the Deputy Director of The Waterfront Project “I love working for The Waterfront Project because it is a women-led organization that leads with their hearts and have lived experience allowing us to connect with our clients on a more personal level. I started at The Waterfront Project in…

Important News for Local Homeowners

By William Paige, Foreclosure Specialist at The Waterfront Project The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is under threat of closing, and as a HUD-Approved Housing Counseling Agency, we cannot stress enough how devastating this would be for Americans. The CFPB was created after the 2008 financial crisis to protect consumers from predatory practices in the financial and mortgage market. Its absence would leave millions of people vulnerable to abuse by…

Client Success Stories – Settlement Agreements

By Barry L. Dayton, Staff Attorney at The Waterfront Project Ms. B came to us with a complaint for non-payment of rent dating back to May 2024. The landlord claimed to have received nothing from her since May, which meant that their claim was for $16,445 at the time of trial. However, after reviewing Ms. B’s documents, including a settlement a Staff Attorney had previously negotiated for the client back…

HUD Disaster Recovery Cuts: A Looming Crisis for Housing Stability

By Carol M. Sainthilaire, Executive Director of The Waterfront Project The Latest Blow to Affordable Housing & Disaster Recovery The federal government’s latest move to slash 84% of HUD’s Community Planning and Development (CPD) budget is nothing short of a disaster for communities across the country. These cuts threaten critical disaster recovery and housing stability programs that thousands of families rely on, including right here in New Jersey. At The Waterfront Project (WFP),…

Addressing a Heartbreaking Story: Family of kids who froze to death reached out at least three times to Detroit’s homeless response team

By Elizabeth Hurley, Legal Director at The Waterfront Project On Monday, February 10, 2025, two homeless children froze to death in Detroit, sleeping in a van with their family, despite their mother’s repeated efforts to get assistance. This, in America. As a housing attorney with The Waterfront Project defending low-income tenants from eviction, I have met with so many mothers on the brink of homelessness, the terror in their eyes…

Client Success Story: Final Restraining Order Granted

By Elizabeth Hurley, Legal Director at The Waterfront Project In this domestic violence case, we successfully obtained a Final Restraining Order protecting our client from her former partner, whom the court found had assaulted her on multiple occasions, resulting in “horrific injuries.” The order prohibits our client’s abuser from having any contact with her, bars him from visiting her home and place of employment, as well as the home of…

Mortgage Maintenance Education

By Maria Mascola and William Paige Since 2018, The Waterfront Project has been dedicated to helping New Jersey residents navigate the complexities of the foreclosure process. We now have a full team of HUD-Certified housing counselors who offer support and education to client’s while reminding them they don’t have to go through this alone. While the foreclosure process in New Jersey can be extensive, we would like to share with…

Client Success Story – Landlord Dismissal

Written by Elizabeth Hurley, Legal Director at The Waterfront Project Sam, our Staff Attorney at The Waterfront Project, was able to get a landlord to dismiss a non-payment of rent case the landlord had filed against our client for arrears that were incurred between March and August 2021, a period protected under the Stack Bill. The landlord attempted to apply our client’s current rent payments to these pandemic arrears and…

12 Days of The Waterfront Project Representation: From Lockout to a Settlement Awarding 10 Months’ Rent as Relocation Assistance

Written by Elizabeth Hurley, Managing Attorney at The Waterfront Project Mr. V. called The Waterfront Project on January 16th, having been evicted from his apartment the day before without notice of any lawsuit filed against him. Although he went to court and was able to regain temporary possession of the apartment, the Court’s order left the judgment against him in place and gave him only 7 days to remove his…