Tenants suffering with poor living conditions often in poor communities are finding a new way of fighting back against negligent landlords.

Some of them are forming what's called tenants unions, organizing to find strength in numbers to have their needs met.

Ted Goldberg's been talking to tenants around the state over the last several months, and today he visited residents in Trenton who are finally coming together to organize after years of problems.

For more than 50 years, Kingsbury Towers has cut an imposing figure on Trenton's skyline.

Some residents say the views are great, but life inside has its problems, which is why they're forming a tenants union.

Its path called to the Free Friedman to the point where is bone chilling?

I have muscle spasms, so I'll be freezing.

It's very cold.

Kamau Bell has lived in the West Tower since 2005 and says his bedroom has become too cold to sleep.

It doesn't work.

It's been like that since 2003, and I don't sleep back here.

They know I have no heat.

They just got away with it.

Bell says there's a long list of problems that have long been ignored by his landlords, including this busted window.

The main problem of property slide.

It doesn't slide.

It's done while temperatures have dropped outside.

Bell has relied on space heaters.

His landlord recently gave him two of them.

Set at 68 degrees temperature and is blowing out cold air for two weeks.

And they say that the boiler room is the issue that the heat is not or anything.

And that's also.

Bell says other issues have been ignored for longer, like how his hot water is sometimes brown and the hole in his bathroom wall.

That's how my house got flooded in 2019, and this the second time has gone flooding cold baths and flooded my house and everything.

And it's been like this for over 10 to 15 years.

And the inspectors, you know, they know about it, but they never issue no violations.

The building changed hands last December and is currently managed by Kingsbury Managers LLC.

Bell says neither his old landlord nor his new one have fixed up his kitchen floor or his countertops.

Every time I try to get this fix, the maintenance people, the whole property management.

Davis used to do it.

Why?

Because they don't want to work.

They don't want to fix up anything.

And when they see that, I'm trying to get it fixed.

Oh, he could complain about anything.

In response to this story, a spokesperson for Bell's landlord said We acquired the lawn, neglected Kingsbury Towers in December 2024 and have recently started the extensive renovations and rehabilitation of the two buildings.

If residents experience any issues in their apartments, we ask that they report any issues to property management who are available around the clock to respond to any maintenance requests.

Spoke to the management about it.

You know, they just got upset and they said you can't complain about you want to start fixing your house.

Bell is part of the new tenant union that just popped up here.

They're becoming more and more common statewide.

Because the rents are too damn high.

I love it.

The more the merrier.

Matt Schapiro leads the New Jersey tenants organization and says more tenant unions keep landlords honest.

Landlords who do two things that they raise the rent and they decrease the services.

And if you've got it difficult to deal with that, you should deal with that by organizing.

Bell is hopeful, but not optimistic.

That is, union will help him.

I hope that is will make a difference for me.

You know, for me living here as well as other tenants.

But to me, I know it's not going to make it different because this always happen.

SHAPIRO says tenant unions have lots of options at their disposal.

Even in section eight or affordable housing.

They can withhold their portion of the rent, even withholding 20 to 40%.

There's going to have an effect.

It'll all end up in court and a judge is going to have to decide whether whether or not they're breaking the law by withholding services.

Residents have submitted a list of demands from their landlord, like a freeze on rent and an end to alleged harassment, something the tenant union is sure to fight for going forward.

In Trenton, I'm Ted Goldberg.

NJ Spotlight News.