Imagine living in an apartment that has no heat, or is infested with rats and roaches. Would you continue paying the rent? If you stop, then you would be starting a fight that is stacked against you.
Paula Franzese, a professor of law at Seton Hall University School of Law, is leading an effort to even the playing field. She says there are good and bad landlords, just as there are good and bad tenants. But the law, at this stage, favors the landlords.
She spoke with Tom Moran, the Star Ledger's editorial page editor.