Rental Solutions with FLLA

[BrianSullivan]

There has been some great and thorough discussion on this site about the rental issues that the FLLA brought to the table. Readers who have not kept up should read the following threads:

Tensions with FLLA Rises
freeholdvoice.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=mayorandtowncouncil&action=display&thread=5187

ATTENTION BORO HOMEOWNERS!
freeholdvoice.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=mayorandtowncouncil&action=display&thread=5216

Now it is time to challenge readers- what would you do?
Of course, we do not shape policy here on the site. The purpose here is to see how close any of us can come to predicting what will happen.

Here are the four big issues to consider:

1. Vicarious liability-ticketing landlord for tenant act.

2. Night time inspections without probable cause or a warrant.

3. The fee increase.

4. The public list of names and addresses of landlord on boro website like sex offenders

If you were a part of the official decision making, what would you do and why?

[richardkelsey]

Jun 29, 2010 14:44:30 GMT -5 BrianSullivan said:

There has been some great and thorough discussion on this site about the rental issues that the FLLA brought to the table. Readers who have not kept up should read the following threads:

Tensions with FLLA Rises
freeholdvoice.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=mayorandtowncouncil&action=display&thread=5187

ATTENTION BORO HOMEOWNERS!
freeholdvoice.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=mayorandtowncouncil&action=display&thread=5216

Now it is time to challenge readers- what would you do?
Of course, we do not shape policy here on the site. The purpose here is to see how close any of us can come to predicting what will happen.

Here are the four big issues to consider:

1. Vicarious liability-ticketing landlord for tenant act.

2. Night time inspections without probable cause or a warrant.

3. The fee increase.

4. The public list of names and addresses of landlord on boro website like sex offenders

If you were a part of the official decision making, what would you do and why?

1. Vicarious liability-ticketing landlord for tenant act.

I have many questions I can't answer without more facts -- but -- assuming that nothing prevents the Landlord from contracting with its tenants for passing these fines along to the tenant -- I would support this feature. It will improve screening of tenants, likely lead to an increase in security deposits (assuming the law permits), and assure the community that violations will be paid. Because the burden is shifted to the landlord, the landlord is forced to better contract and better screen.

2. Night time inspections without probable cause or a warrant.

Assuming NJ law permits a certain number of surprise inspections per-year, per-unit, I would support this. It should be a low number -- 3-6.

3. The fee increase.

Fees should be nothing more than the cost of administration. If fees are to be raised -- they should be fines. This would make offenders pay additional costs associated with enforcement -- and serve, hopefully, as a deterrent.

4. The public list of names and addresses of landlord on boro website like sex offenders

I don't have a problem -- per se -- with the Borough having a list of all available and registered rental units, to include the responsible party for each unit. Such a list could be useful in targeting homes that fail to properly register.

However -- I think such a list should have a second section that lists the landlords in violation -- the number of violations, and the type of violations.

Like I said -- some of this may be precluded by NJ law -- which decidedly favors the renter over the property owner. Because the renter is favored, the ability of the landlord to use private contracting as a strong enforcement mechanism is limited. For these reasons -- Towns must find an enforcement regime that does not punish good landlords. In a town where housing stock has too many renters to be a healthy mix, the key is encouraging good rentals through fair enforcement and incentive -- where possible. However, the town must also use strong enforcement mechanisms for the invariably bad landlord.

[BrianSullivan]

My ideas are that of a non lawyer. I will leave the lawyering to the lawyers. But, this is what I think needs to be done.

For starters and as a intro, the landlords have to be viewed for what they are a business group. If they are treated simply as bad guys, the wrong decisions will be made.

On the various sides we see two things. The homeowners who are very unhappy with rentals and the governing body who I believe wants to fight for them tooth and nail. Naturally, I side with this group as a home owner. There is no denying that there are problems among the rental community.

I do believe the landlord group wants to work with the town and has some good points. They will have a really hard time winning public trust. The FLLA also claim that good landlords are good for the town, but I am not convinced.

But, those above points really mean nothing. Those are emotions and we have to deal with reality- the landlords are here whether people like it or not. The landlords will not get everything whether they like it or not.

Treating them as a business group, here is what I think.

I have to start with number 3

3. The fee increase
This is the catalyst that got the FLLA started. I say settle this first and then move onto the other things. Barring any facts that borough hall has not released, I think the fees have to come down. The FLLA appear to have strong case. I think if they sue, they will win. General consensus is that there are issues with actual enforcement. This registration fee has nothing to do with enforcement. Is this town ready to lose another suit and what will it really accomplish in protecting quality of life and safety?


1. Vicarious liability-ticketing landlord for tenant act.

I hesitate to be specific on this right now until I see a real solution presented. As a business group, landlords have in fact invited their tenants to live here and are responsible, If they want to make money off of who they invite, they have to take responsibility.

The door does have to be open to penalize tenants when appropriate.

I also hesitate and have concerns because I do not want to see anything that muddles up the enforcement aspects. That must be stream lined and efficient.


2. Night time inspections without probable cause or a warrant


It has been demonstrated that this is in need of review and ammending. I am not sure I would throw away night time inspections altogether. That is when people are home. Tenant respect must also be considered. ( looks like there has been movement here)

Maybe backing off on this and getting more into complaint driven inspections is better? The routine inspections appear to catch very little violations, thought these type of inspections are the norm in most towns. .

On the other hand, if CE is to wait for complaints, there are some areas will they will get none due to the very high number of rentals.

The solutions here are for the CE and the rental board to find ways to better engage the general public and make sure enforcement is efficient when complaints come in.

4. The public list of names and addresses of landlord on boro website like sex offenders

I say keep the list. I never looked at it in terms of a sex offender list, but more as a business directory. It lets me know who is doing business in my area. AS it is, the names on properties can be found via tax maps on line. The landlords are still listed anyway, but, the borough site provides a convenience that we should all have. AS a home owner, I should not have to be subjected to a mystery owner next door who lives out of town. Whether I see problems or even a place fixed up and bettered, I might want to know who that businessperson is. Actually, I believe I have that right.

[lisas84]

Night time (before 9) inspections with notice??? So that all the illegal tenants can pick up sleeping bags and scatter?

Sure. Go for it.

Public list of names "like sex offenders." OK. If you really are grasping at straws to try to link the two -- have at it. Bite me, too. (PS: I bite back.)

[adefonzo]

If I were to write the legislation, essentially it would read like this....

1. Vicarious liability-ticketing landlord for tenant act.

All penalties associated with code enforcement violations, through annual inspections, inspections initiated through probable cause, or other legally conducted inspections, will be charged to the property owner, whether the property is inhabited by the home owner, or rented to others.

2. Night time inspections without probable cause or a warrant.

No inspections will be carried out without notice or probable cause. Night time inspections may occur if...
1. Notice has been given of a daytime inspection, but after two attempts, code enforcement officials were not able to conduct the inspection during normal daytime hours (8am-5pm). In such an instance, notice will be given that a nighttime inspection will occur with a date and time on the notice (a "window" of 2 hours is acceptable). If, after 2 more attempts, code enforcement is still unable to gain access to the property, the property owner will be contacted directly and a date and time - within 1 week of contact - will be agreed upon where the owner of the property will be present to allow code enforcement officials into the property for the inspection. If the property owner fails allow access to the property, fines will be assessed to the property owner on a daily basis until code enforcement is allowed access to perform the inspection.

2. In the case of an inspection that is generated through a complaint or other observation, Code Enforcement, after completing the necessary documentation to prove probable cause , will be able to conduct a "surprise inspection" at anytime between the hours of 7am-9pm. If the probable cause demonstrates that an inspection may need to be conducted at hours outside of those listed above, so long as the proper legal paperwork is filed and complete showing this, an inspection may be conducted at the time indicated on the supporting documentation. [clearly I am no lawyer or writer of legislation, but essentially, if a complaint comes in that states something illegal or against code is happening at the house at 3am every morning, and code enforcement obtains a warrant - or whatever legal documentation they need - which specifically details that the inspection needs to occur at this time, then it's acceptable, without notice, to conduct the inspection. Hopefully that clears it up a bit].


3. The fee increase.

When a property owner first wishes to register their property with the town as a rental property, a fee will be assessed based on the typical annual fee, plus any additional administrative costs associated with initial registration.

An annual fee will be assessed to each rental property in the town in order to cover expenses for annual inspections and other necessary processing and administrative tasks performed in relation to rental properties. This will be a flat fee for each rental property.

The Town reserves the right to review the fee annually to determine if costs have risen, thereby necessitating an increase in the fee.

4. The public list of names and addresses of landlord on boro website like sex offenders

Rental properties and names of property owners are already listed through other sources online. It is not the responsibility of the Town to publicly list rental properties and property owners. If a resident of the town has a question regarding a specific property, they can contact Town Hall and inquire as to the status of that property.


Now...in addition to the above 4 points, there is one other part of legislation that I would also include...

Property owners who continue to have violations assessed against them will lose their license to rent property in this Town.

The actual number of violations, seriousness of the violations, and obviously other factors would have to be thought out a bit more, but there has to be a very clear, very strong recourse whereby the town can revoke someone's ability to continue to rent property in the town.