New Jersey has had a confusing and convoluted method of dealing with the dearth of housing for its low- and moderateincome families. The Council on Affordable Housing, known by its acronym COAH, was created by the New Jersey Legislature in response to the Fair Housing Act of 1985 and a series of New Jersey Supreme Court rulings known as the Mount Laurel decisions. COAH is a government agency within the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs that is responsible for ensuring that all 566 New Jersey municipalities provide their fair share of low- and moderate-income housing. As of 2014, COAH defined a moderate income family of four in Essex County as earning $72,492 and a low income family as earning $45,307. Using these figures, COAH is supposed to define housing regions, estimate the needs for low- and moderate-income housing, allocate fair share numbers by municipality and review plans to fulfill these obligations.
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