Knob Hill owners seek maintenance-fee relief

Homeowners claim
affordable housing
council is unresponsive

By dave benjamin
Staff Writer

Knob Hill owners seek
maintenance-fee relief
Homeowners claim
affordable housing
council is unresponsive
By dave benjamin
Staff Writer


JERRY WOLKOWITZ  Employees from GPU Energy work to replace a utility pole that was knocked down by a truck on South Street, Freehold Borough, on Dec. 5, the morning a snowstorm hit New Jersey.JERRY WOLKOWITZ Employees from GPU Energy work to replace a utility pole that was knocked down by a truck on South Street, Freehold Borough, on Dec. 5, the morning a snowstorm hit New Jersey.

Residents of the Knob Hill community, Route 33, Manalapan, who purchased their homes under state Council On Affordable Housing (COAH) income guidelines believe the maintenance fees they pay should be less than the maintenance fees paid by people who bought homes at Knob Hill at prevailing market prices.

Although state law appears to back up the residents’ claim, getting the relief they are seeking is proving to be no easy task.

"We have been advised in a letter from the state that we are not supposed to be paying 100 percent fees," said Kathy Casio, who has lived at Knob Hill for two years. "We are supposed to be paying at least one-third or a percentage of (the full maintenance-fee cost)."

A Sept. 20, 2001, letter sent by Shirley M. Bishop, (former) executive director of COAH, to Casio, said that according to New Jersey law, municipalities shall, by ordinance, require that the master deed of inclusionary developments (developments containing affordable housing units) regulate condominium or homeowner association fees or special assessments of low- and moderate-income purchasers at a specific percentage of those paid by market purchasers. The percentage that shall be paid by low- and moderate-income purchasers shall be at least one-third of the condo or homeowner association fees paid by the market purchasers."

Bishop wrote, "Municipalities determine what percentage in association fees that (owners) of affordable units will pay, based on the COAH rules."

However, the Manalapan ordinance that sets the maintenance fees appears to make no distinction between the COAH units and the market price homes.

Casio said Manalapan officials are now trying to work with COAH to get the fees reduced, but that COAH administrators don’t seem to be listening.

She said the common areas in the condominium buildings where units sold at market price are heated and enclosed. The common areas in the buildings containing the units that were sold at below market prices are not, she said.

While the buildings where residents who paid market prices for their units are enclosed with security doors, carpeting in the hallways, have heat, air conditioning, and are all painted, Casio said the buildings with the COAH units have wood planks to walk on, siding that is falling off inside and buildings that are open and cold.

"They are super hot in the summer," said Casio. "They (the non-COAH buildings) have air-conditioning in their hallways and yet we are paying the same fees as they are. Our buildings are totally wide open. That’s the way it is and it’s not expected to be changed. What we have is it."

She said attorney Jackie Gioioso, representing the township, came to view the buildings and was amazed at the differences. Casio said the people who bought the COAH units only want to get what they are entitled to receive.

Casio said she has contacted Congressman Rush Holt’s office. She said she was told by a representative of Holt that it is not legal to charge the same fees and that the COAH residents should not pay. But she said Holt’s representative doesn’t realize that if the owners of the Knob Hill COAH units don’t pay the full maintenance fee there will be a $25 late fee added on every month.

Casio said she contacted Leora Mostten, chief of staff of the New Jersey State Division of the Ratepayer Advocate. She said Mostten sent a letter to the township attorney explaining that it is not legal to charge the owners of the COAH units the same maintenance fee as the owners of the market priced units.

COAH "was in error when they initially approved the (affordable housing) plan for the Knob Hill community authorizing homeowner association fees for fair housing purchasers and the fair market owners to be the same," Mostten wrote in a letter to Gioioso.

Mayor Rebecca Aaronson said work on the issue has been slow moving. She said the township ordinance approving the Knob Hill fee structure has to be changed and that cannot be done without the approval of COAH.

Township Attorney Matthew Giacobbe said, "There is an ordinance in town that was passed in the mid-1990s that dealt with the payment by COAH homeowners. It was the fee structure for how they pay their maintenance fees. COAH has to approve the ordinance."

Aaronson said the people who purchased the COAH units knew when they purchased their homes that the full amount would be charged because that information was in the prospectus. She also noted there is a ceiling that owners of COAH units could be charged and the fees today are slowly approaching that level.

"Some of them (the COAH units) are only 600 square feet and they’re paying $139 a month, just in maintenance fees," Aaronson said. "They’ll pay for the parking lot maintenance. They’ll pay for the things they use, (but) they don’t have a lot of the amenities that the fair market units have. No one disagrees that they’re not getting a fair shake, but we’re bound by the agreement that was made years ago. This isn’t right. These are the people who can’t afford it."

Casio said residents have just been notified that the maintenance fees will rise on Jan. 1.

Giacobbe said Manalapan is examining what has been done in other communities in regard to the matter of maintenance fees. An application will have to be made to COAH to change the fee structure. He said any change could affect all affordable housing units in the township, not just those at Knob Hill.