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INCREASED
ABSENTEE LANDLORD OWNERSHIP
Local
residents fear the increased ownership of property in several towns
surrounding Monmouth University are being purchased by absentee
landlords for use as student rentals for the Fall and Spring
Semester and then either occupying them in the summer or renting
them out for the summer.
The new
ordinances do not limit a home that is occupied by the owner for a
season from renting the home out in another season
CONTROLLING
GROUP RENTALS
There are a
number of cases throughout the country that have attempted to
control group rentals (college students, frat houses, religious
homes and more).
In New Jersey,
this has become known as the Animal House Law, which towns have
adopted with some variation. The goal – to limit rowdy behavior in
seasonal rentals. In these laws, the landlord is held accountable
for the actions of their tenants.
Click here to
see a 2000 version of such an ordinance. It has since been updated
to hold the landlord liable after 2 complaints.
TARGETING RENTAL HOMES
Non-owner
occupied homes are being “targeted” by local officials – watched for
a violation to occur, thus triggering a court appearance for a
landlord. It has been argued that this is selective prosecution as
well as infringing of rights of both the tenant and the landlord. An
increased police presence is essential across towns and these cases,
the targeted homes are more or less being staked out.
Local
neighbors are also urged to call and report apparent violations.
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Following are
selected snippets concerning the group rental problems and attempts
to limit them in New Jersey.
February
23, 2000
LONG BRANCH - An Ocean Township lawyer has filed a class action suit
on behalf of several landlords, claiming that city officials have
conducted a campaign of "selective enforcement" to prevent his
clients from renting to Monmouth University students. "This is
really a matter of public interest, big time," said Gary E. Fox, the
attorney who filed the suit. "This isn't the only town the kids are
living in."
February
14, 2004
OCEAN TOWNSHIP - The loud, all-night mayhem and drunken revelry
found in the movie "Animal House" pales in comparison to the
disturbances caused by college students renting homes in the
Oakhurst section, residents told the Township Council. The
disturbances by the renters, many of whom are Monmouth University
students living off-campus, and the dilapidated appearance of some
rental homes are a problem, residents told the council at its
meeting on Wednesday.
March 3,
2004 ••
WEST LONG BRANCH - Monmouth University officials will review the
school's codes of conduct for students after hearing nearby
residents' complaints of unruly and threatening behavior by students
who reside in off-campus rental housing. Mary Anne Nagy, the
university's vice president of Student Services, said yesterday that
after listening to area residents at a forum held Monday night at
the school, the university will review the code
March 12,
2004
Absentee landlords, university spoil quality of life The March 3
article regarding the behavior of Monmouth University's off-campus
students, while factually accurate, failed to mention the reasons
for the increase of this type of behavior, not only in Ocean
Township but in West Long Branch, Long Branch, Deal and Loch Arbour.
Monmouth University and the out-of-state absentee landlords are the
two main causes for the increase in criminal activity
April 1,
2004
THE West Long Branch Borough Council is taking steps to preclude
problems of unruly behavior resulting from group rentals. "We
haven't had any major problems yet, but we don't want any, either,"
said Mayor Paul Zambrano at the council meeting March 18, adding a
council committee is working with Borough Attorney Gregory Baxter to
draft a group-rental ordinance.
May 20,
2004
The Long Branch City Council is moving to tighten controls over
landlords who rent homes to groups. City Attorney James Aaron
advised the council at its May 11 workshop meeting that he is
drafting a group-rental ordinance, which should be ready for members
to review at the next workshop meeting May 25.
May 30, 2004
LONG BRANCH - The City Council
plans to act in June on an ordinance that would regulate seasonal
rentals in single-family homes, a measure designed to combat unruly
tenants and the landlords who rent to them. Mayor Adam Schneider
said "absolutely, it is going ahead" on an ordinance that would
allow property owners who rents their homes only one certificate of
occupancy a year. That means property owners would have to choose
between renting a home to college students from nearby Monmouth
University or renting a home year round.
July 2004
LONG BRANCH -
No one at the City Council meeting last night uttered the words
"college rentals," but the issue was very much on the agenda in the
form of three separate ordinances designed to curb unruly renters
who also are Monmouth University students. Ordinance 25-04 increases
the maximum penalties levied in municipal court from $1,000 to
$1,250, the highest allowed by law, for all ordinances
June 2004 –
Ocean Township and Long Branch, New Jersey
Heeding
complaints that the annual influx of college students living in
off-campus apartments is detrimental to their towns' quality of
life, officials in Long Branch and Ocean Township are preparing to
introduce ordinances designed to combat the problem. Long Branch
Mayor Adam Schneider said the ordinance would limit absentee
landlords to renting units once a year, rather than allow the common
practice of renting to students for nine months and summer visitors
for three.
August 2004
OCEAN
-- Landlords in the business of putting revolving doors in township
rental properties should get ready to close up shop, under a new
township ordinance passed last night.
Only one
certificate of occupancy will be issued every 12 months for a
dwelling in a single-family zone, under the ordinance adopted by the
Township Council.
Although the
ordinance does not eliminate seasonal rentals, it essentially forces
nonresident property owners to choose between the summer and
college-rental markets.
Residents
praised the action, but many said officials need to stay vigilant in
stamping out temporary tenants who fill once-quiet neighborhoods
with noise, trash and criminal activity.
A
resident and mother of five who rents out two township properties --
took objection to the ordinance's definition of "family."
While the
clause states fraternities, sororities and other groups would not be
deemed "traditional family units," Haleva said officials should be
careful about legislating how many people can live under one roof.
"A
single-family home does not mean you're supposed to have 2.3 kids
living in the home |
