Heyert v. Taddese, A-4801-10T2; Appellate Division; opinion by Parrillo, P.J.A.D.; decided and approved for publication June 25, 2013. Before Judges Parrillo, Sabatino and Fasciale. On appeal from the Law Division, Hudson County, L-1247-10/L-1460-10 (consolidated). DDS No. 27-2-0421 [65 pp.]
This consolidated appeal arises from a landlord-tenant dispute. The tenants, Brian Heyert, Jude Noel, Diana Weiner, Peter Schoepe Jr. and Karl Mawhinney, claimed that the landlords, Menassie Taddese and Yayine Melaku, violated the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, N.J.S.A. 56:8-1 to -195, by charging rent in excess of that allowed by local rent-control ordinances and that the municipality erred in granting the landlords a hardship rent increase. The landlords claimed that the rent-control ordinance is unconstitutional and that the legal base rent calculated under the ordinance was arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable.
