Post by BrianSullivan on Feb 23, 2010 12:16:27 GMT -5
The Freehold Borough Rental Advisory Committee meets every third Thursday in Borough Hall (51 West Main Street) at 7 PM. During this past February meeting, the annual report from the Code Enforcement office was discussed by the committee, with code officer Sharon O'Connor present to help answer questions. Also present during this meeting were several members of the Freehold Landlord Association, with plenty of their own questions.
People in attendance were handed copies of summaries of the 2008 and 2009 annual reports. Statistics included in the annual report contain information on open and closed cases, enforcement actions such as warnings and summonses, COs, re inspections, complaints, and other pertinent data.
One statistic that was heavily discussed was the number of overcrowding violations that had been found through the year. In 2008 there were 17 cases compared to 11 in 2009. Several people expressed that this appeared to be a lower than expected number.
O'Connor was asked a number of questions and it was made clear that this may not fully reflect what is out there. O'Connor works the second shift and is charged with inspecting the non-multiple dwelling rentals in town. She spends her time doing the systemic annual checks until a complaint comes in to investigate. Upon questioning about over crowding, she mentioned that at times she is denied entry by the tenants. It is possible, and believed, that some problems are cleared up before she can return for the annual inspection.
Also mentioned about the annual inspections was that the entire town cannot be done in one year’s time as was originally intended.
The annual report lists the number of complaints received by the Code Enforcement office as 113 for the year 2009 and 92 for 2008. Questions were asked about how many different people make the complaints as well as how many different properties are the subject of the complaints. Answers were not available at that time. Residents can call Borough Hall and make a complaint about a property and may do so anonymously if they desire.
Revenues in 2009 from the code office and fines collected by the courts totaled $459,336 Out of that, $219,250 came from landlord registration fees. The landlord registration fees have been a point of contention for the landlord group (FLLA). With the sour economy, falling rents, and many tenants leaving town, the FLLA has claimed that the fees have become too much of a burden.
While the immediate solutions between the town and the FLLA did not occur at this meeting, the landlords did express that the numbers do not back up what the town is doing
FLLA member Chris LoPresti stated that the report does not reflect that the borough has big problems and expressed that the town seek different approaches.
Rental Committee member Marie Chapman, who is a landlord and resident of the borough, expressed that the code office does have to keep up on top of quality of life and safety issues.
After further discussions, the rental committee did decide that they would like to see some changes in the data such as separating landlord and homeowner statistics, sort by property owners with violations, and separate stats of single family and multi dwelling rentals.
Dialog between the FLLA and the town will continue.
People in attendance were handed copies of summaries of the 2008 and 2009 annual reports. Statistics included in the annual report contain information on open and closed cases, enforcement actions such as warnings and summonses, COs, re inspections, complaints, and other pertinent data.
One statistic that was heavily discussed was the number of overcrowding violations that had been found through the year. In 2008 there were 17 cases compared to 11 in 2009. Several people expressed that this appeared to be a lower than expected number.
O'Connor was asked a number of questions and it was made clear that this may not fully reflect what is out there. O'Connor works the second shift and is charged with inspecting the non-multiple dwelling rentals in town. She spends her time doing the systemic annual checks until a complaint comes in to investigate. Upon questioning about over crowding, she mentioned that at times she is denied entry by the tenants. It is possible, and believed, that some problems are cleared up before she can return for the annual inspection.
Also mentioned about the annual inspections was that the entire town cannot be done in one year’s time as was originally intended.
The annual report lists the number of complaints received by the Code Enforcement office as 113 for the year 2009 and 92 for 2008. Questions were asked about how many different people make the complaints as well as how many different properties are the subject of the complaints. Answers were not available at that time. Residents can call Borough Hall and make a complaint about a property and may do so anonymously if they desire.
Revenues in 2009 from the code office and fines collected by the courts totaled $459,336 Out of that, $219,250 came from landlord registration fees. The landlord registration fees have been a point of contention for the landlord group (FLLA). With the sour economy, falling rents, and many tenants leaving town, the FLLA has claimed that the fees have become too much of a burden.
While the immediate solutions between the town and the FLLA did not occur at this meeting, the landlords did express that the numbers do not back up what the town is doing
FLLA member Chris LoPresti stated that the report does not reflect that the borough has big problems and expressed that the town seek different approaches.
Rental Committee member Marie Chapman, who is a landlord and resident of the borough, expressed that the code office does have to keep up on top of quality of life and safety issues.
After further discussions, the rental committee did decide that they would like to see some changes in the data such as separating landlord and homeowner statistics, sort by property owners with violations, and separate stats of single family and multi dwelling rentals.
Dialog between the FLLA and the town will continue.