BY LAYLI WHYTE
Staff Writer
RED BANK — At the Sept. 14 Borough Council meeting the council discussed an amendment to the Landlord Registration Ordinance.
The change being considered is an increase in the amount a landlord must pay per violation of the ordinance. The original draft calls for a $100 fine for violations.
“When you’re bringing in $5,000 a month in rent,” said Councilwoman Jennifer Beck, “$100 does not make a dent. Many of the landlords are willing to absorb that.”
The ordinance requires all landlords to fill out a registration form including both home and work phone numbers, the phone numbers for any and all maintenance providers for the building, the names and numbers of all other partners and a street address, instead of just a P.O. box.
Landlords are also required to provide the names of all residents of the housing unit. The ordinance was aimed at curbing overcrowding in rental properties.
“There’s a handful of bad actors causing us to take this action,” said Beck. “They violate the codes to such a degree that we had no choice. They are taking advantage of people.”
Beck said that conditions become unsafe when too many people are living in a home not equipped to handle that level of occupancy.
According to Beck, the names of tenants are kept in a separate, confidential file that is not available to the public, so as to protect the privacy of the individuals.
The ordinance is due to be introduced at the next council meeting Sept. 28.