Rental unit license law set
for hearing, vote Thursday
By clare MARie celano
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD — A public hearing and adoption of an ordinance that sets guidelines for the owners of rental units will be held at a special meeting of the Borough Council on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in Borough Hall.
Owners of residential rental properties, including apartment complexes, will be able to express their opinions on the ordinance during the public hearing that will precede the council’s vote.
The most important stipulation in the proposed ordinance, which was introduced on March 10, is that all owners of residential properties must obtain licenses before they can rent out their units.
The new regulations are being put in place primarily to crack down on absentee landlords who allow overcrowding in residential rental units, Mayor Michael Wilson said.
The ordinance does not apply to owner-occupied rental complexes, the mayor said. It also does not apply to public housing authorities, not-for-profit housing corporations and rental properties for the developmentally disabled.
This will be the first time operators of apartment complexes have been required to obtain licenses before they are allowed to rent their units, Wilson said.
The annual license fees will be as follows:
• Year one: $500.
• Year two: $300, provided that in the past year the licensee has not been convicted of any violation of the ordinance or any other borough ordinance, statute or regulation concerning the subject rental property. In the event of any such conviction, the annual fee shall remain $500.
• Year three: $100, with the same penalty for non-compliance as for year two.
"The ordinance will enable us to keep a better handle on the people who are living in the borough," Wilson said.
Detailed information about inhabitants and the layout of the rental units must be supplied on each license for it to be approved. The application must include the name, age and gender of each and every tenant living in a unit, including children.
For each unit, the owner must provide a floor plan of the unit, which must depict the number, dimensions and location of each room in the unit. No space shall be used for a sleeping place which has not been designated as a sleeping area on the sketch provided by the owner and approved by the construction official.
In the event that the tenancy changes during the year, the landlord, owner or managing agent must, within 30 days of the change in the tenancy, provide an updated property registration statement for every unit in which a change in tenancy has occurred.
This will be in addition to the requirements for obtaining a certificate of occupancy for the change of tenancy. A change of tenancy means the addition of any person not included in the annual statement, or deletion of any person on the annual statement.