with eviction filings Rising since the pandemic Jersey city leaders are proposing a new program that will give free legal help to tenants at risk of being kicked out the plan saw a lot of success in nearby Newark and would be paid for by the commercial developers who Advocates say bear some responsibility for pricing them out senior political correspondent David Cruz has the story in Housing Corps generally we see like over 80 percent of landlords are represented three percent of tenants are that means almost every tenant who's been to Housing Court over the past year in the city where about 8 000 people get eviction notices every year is fighting their landlord with no professional help from a lawyer who might know a little something more about your rights the disparity is huge and um having that access to even before like being represented in court even just legal consultation helps tenants so much with building a case and fighting back against unfair things that landlords try to do two ordinances council members will see in their Caucus meeting tonight come as a direct response to the crisis one creates the right to counsel for anyone based on income you would have a right to an attorney to consult with and to represent you in court the other one levies a development impact fee not a tax say City officials on developers James Solomon is a sponsor he says having legal help makes a world of difference it potentially keeps thousands of people in their homes it's a program that is adopted now in dozens of cities and in three states Across America and we know that it works and it's going to keep thousands of residents here and then you pay for it with a development impact fee any new project that's market rate would pay 1.5 of its value to the city's affordable housing trust fund and then the city would spend about 20 percent of that affordable housing trust fund money on this right to council program the fee would ramp up over a period of time and with tens of thousands of units expected to be developed over the next decade Solomon says its impact could be in the millions but Derek Reed an attorney and past president of the Property Owners Association of New Jersey says he supports attendance right to council but disputes who should pay for it most of the affordable housing in New Jersey are your smaller to mid-sized landlords and so you know any additional fees that are incurred in the development of those projects and the operation of those properties really hits home especially if you're dealing with property owners that are using the rents that are collected for those properties to feed their own family and to pay their own rent councilman Yusuf Saleh a fellow landlord says nobody's trying to stick it to the little guy but adds that most developers who've been in the Jersey City real estate market have done pretty well I mean they are they are making you know money hand over fist and they have done so for the last 30 years here in Jersey City and we need more affordable housing or else we will start to look like cities that don't have affordable housing and they have tent cities now so that's that's the alternate reality we face if Jersey City does not start to swing the pendulum back members will get their first look at the ordinance today and it could be up for a first reading later this week at the regular council meeting after which it's likely to get a tough read from a city council looking to stem a crisis with help from the group residents most frequently blame for helping to create it I'm David Cruz NJ Spotlight news [Music]