Each year, Essex County brings together dozens of outreach organizations under one roof to provide information on services to seniors. Please join ENLS and others at this free event on October 18, 2022 at the Richard J. Codey Arena in Essex County, 560 Northfield Avenue, West Orange, NJ. OTLS legal services are limited to Newark, to tenant households facing eviction and whose gross income is at or below 200% of the current federal poverty line (income exemption for applicants aged 60 or older and frail). Our client admission process takes place every day of the week and begins with filling out an admission form, which you can find here (Admission Form) or by clicking above. Each OTLS candidate must be selected prior to receiving legal services from our firm. For more information about OTLS, please contact us at otls@ci.newark.nj.us. The goal of the OTLS is to provide free legal services to low-income Newark tenants facing eviction or the threat of eviction. OTLS has fulfilled this mission by providing direct services and contracting with legal services firms that have experience defending tenants facing eviction.
The following list of legal resources is designed to help you find legal representation: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, OTLS continues to operate remotely with limited in-person services at City Hall by appointment only. Our remote office hours start Monday to Friday at 8:30 a.m. For general information on other tenant resources, we recommend calling 211 and/or visiting the following websites: Many of the organizations listed below have strict income and geographic restrictions. The ability of some organizations to provide free legal services depends on volunteers and limited resources. There is no guarantee that any of the organizations listed below will be able to legally represent you. To address these issues and provide a legal resource for Newark tenants facing eviction, the City of Newark established the Office of Tenant Legal Services (OTLS) on December 19, 2018 (Order). II. IF YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO LEGAL AID and ask for a referral to a specific lawyer, you can call the following agencies in your I. IF YOU THINK YOU CAN`T AFFORD A LAWYER, you can call the following agencies in your geographic area. Reducing income inequality and increasing affordable housing are no small undertakings, and OTLS is by no means the only solution. But we hope we can take a small step to ensure that all people – regardless of ethnicity, religion, disability, marital status or immigration status – have access to justice and affordable and decent housing, which is, after all, a human right! According to recent census data, more than 75% of Newark residents rent their homes and the majority of Newark renters spend 35% or more of their monthly household income on rent.
These statistics provide fertile ground for displacement and gentrification through the process of displacement or the threat of displacement. Many tenants who are unaware of their rights (and often have nowhere else to live) leave their homes permanently out of fear of the threat of eviction – even if it is unjustified. The same lack of awareness leads many Newark tenants to live in uninhabitable conditions that the landlord may need to radically improve.