Thread: NJ: Ban on renting to illegals may be requested

http://newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2 ... e/001.html

Ban on renting to illegals may be requested
Advisory committee is aware this type of law has been challenged in other towns
BY MARK ROSMAN
Staff Writer

Feb 7, 2007

The Borough Council was expected to be asked on Feb. 5 to consider adopting an ordinance that would prohibit the renting of apartments to illegal aliens in Freehold Borough.

The Rental Property Advisory Committee was expected to make a series of recommendations to the council, according to Frank Argote-Freyre, a member of the advisory committee.

Argote-Freyre recognized his fellow committee members for working hard to come up with the report. He did, however, state his objection to the idea of asking landlords to check the immigration status of potential renters.

Specifically, the advisory committee's report to the council noted how some municipalities in the United States have enacted laws that "require anyone renting an apartment or home to produce valid proof of citizenship or permanent residency."

The advisory committee states it is its opinion that "this ordinance merits consideration by the council for adoption, pending review of its enforceability by the courts. Recent developments in our borough ... must be considered, together with potential legal challenges which may result from such adoption."

In a letter to Mayor Michael Wilson, Argote-Freyre said asking landlords to investigate a potential renter's immigration status "would turn borough landlords into immigration officials, a role that would place an unjust burden on them and which would have a discriminatory impact on some renters."

"Second, the language of the recommendation is divisive and would contribute to the ongoing tension between the governing body and the borough's Latino community. Furthermore, such an ordinance is very likely unconstitutional and the support of the governing body would serve absolutely no useful purpose.

"Finally, with regard to [this] recommendation, immigration is a national issue and one that borough officials should stay away from because it causes deep divisions in our community," Argote-Freyre wrote.

He touched on another recommendation that was expected to be made to the council. Argote-Freyre wrote, "I agree with the concept of an ongoing rental inspection program, but I am concerned with the potential for civil rights violations. In an effort to monitor the borough's respect for civil rights, the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey has established a rental inspection complaint form. Violations of the civil rights of renters in the borough will be referred to area lawyers for action. We will specifically be looking for violation patterns."

This is a step in the right direction. If they caved in because of the muster zone because of the astronomical lawyers fees, than they can try to resolve the problem through renting laws!!

Enough! If you are hear illegally, you do not BELONG HERE! GET THE MESSAGE.

We need to help Freehold Borough in any way that we can!

They're fighters down there and have been at this for some time.
They got back in the saddle after the lawsuit leveled at them and are riding once again.

KUDOS to FREEHOLD!!!

Hurray maybe Jersey is starting to wake up.

Illegals would be barred as tenants under proposed law
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 02/8/07
BY NICK PETRUNCIO
FREEHOLD BUREAU

Post Comment
FREEHOLD — People seeking to rent apartments or homes here would have to prove they are citizens or show proof of legal status in the United States under a committee recommendation the Borough Council is considering.

The recommendation is similar to measures proposed in other towns across the country where some of the nation's 12 million illegal immigrants have settled.

At a council meeting Monday, the Rental Property Advisory Committee offered 15 recommendations on a variety of issues, including absentee landlords, tenant exploitation and apartment overcrowding and upkeep.

The committee, made up of seven volunteers, examined such matters for the past year.

Besides barring illegals, other recommendations included conducting mandatory annual inspections of all rental properties — a proposal that has been adopted — and hiring well-trained support staff and inspectors, including bilingual workers, in the Code Enforcement Office.

"We are going to take these recommendations very seriously," Mayor Michael Wilson said.

Wilson said the next step is to meet with borough professionals and determine what can and cannot be done. Neither he nor any council members indicated what other recommendations might be adopted.

Vehement objections


However, recommendation 15 — the one about landlords renting to citizens or people with "permanent residency" — struck a nerve with one committee member, a local advocate of Latino rights.

Frank Argote-Freyre, a Freehold resident who heads the Monmouth County chapter of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey, wrote to the council urging rejection of that idea. He sent the Asbury Park Press a copy of the letter.

In it, and in an interview Wednesday, Argote-Freyre said the idea is misguided because it shifts the debate away from the issue of absentee landlords and has the borough taking on matters of immigration, a national issue.

Moreover, he said, the idea could lead to discriminatory practices such as landlords refusing to rent to people just because they appear to be immigrants.

Councilman Marc LeVine said focusing only on that recommendation misses the point of why the committee was formed, and he criticized Argote-Freyre for making his letter public.

"It's diverting all the good work of the committee," LeVine said.

He said the intent was to bring rental properties under control regardless of who is living in them. There have been abuses with absentee landlords who have ignored borough ordinances and instances of people not on the lease living in unapproved attics and basements, he said.

"People could get killed" because of such infractions, he said.

"We need to set the bar very high in Freehold with regard to the way all property owners maintain their properties, not just renters," he said.

Committee Chairwoman Maureen Haley said the committee presented the proof of legal status recommendation as an idea worth consideration, and the group is not endorsing its adoption.

LeVine said the recommendation was made as an afterthought because it has been a "hot-burner" issue in communities such as Riverside in Burlington County and Hazleton, Pa. He said the borough needs to monitor how similar laws fare in court.

More controversy


Another recommendation with which Argote-Freyre took issue was the language used in recommendation 12: to "deputize" public works employees to report possible violations. He said this implies giving police powers to people other than the police, but he added he did not believe that was the intent of the committee.

Haley said that was not the intention and the letter puts things in the wrong light. She said the committee simply meant that "we need other ears and eyes for our overburdened code-enforcement officers." The committee wants people in the community to report suspected violations to authorities.

LeVine said Argote-Freyre had a good point and "deputize" was the wrong word to use. "Empower" would have been better. Haley did use both words in her presentation to the council, Argote-Freyre noted.

LeVine added that it is time to put the federal court settlement between the borough and Latino plaintiffs regarding housing and other issues to rest.

Haley said she hopes the recommendations are taken in the proper spirit.

"It's not just a Hispanic-versus-everyone-else issue," she said. "We were trying to do what was best for everybody."

Here is the outline of the recomendations and what was presented to the Freehold Borough Council:


Intro to the Recommendations:

I. PURPOSE

This committee was established in December of 2005 to review the status of rental housing in the Borough; to research potential solutions to problems which affect the health, safety and welfare of tenants and the community at large; to serve as advisors in this area to the Code Office and Borough Council; and to make recommendations to the Council regarding rental housing.

II. Committee members

Committee members include homeowners, renters, landlords and realtors.

Marie Chapman

August Daesener

Frank Argote-Freyer

Maureen Haley (Chairperson)

Lisa Kristiansen

Marc Levine (Council Representative)

Barbara Oliver

Angela Smith

Richard Sobin

III. Invited guest speakers

Henry Sryker, Code Enforcement Official

Ed Mack, Lakewood Code Enforcement Official

Ron Simoncini*___________________?

Connie Pascale, Housing and Community Development Network of NJ

IV. SUBJECT/SCOPE OF DISCUSSIONS

Topics included, but were not limited to:

Landlord/tenant education
Rent control
Overcrowding
100% inspections
Absentee landlords
Examination of policies of other municipalities facing overcrowding and landlord absenteeism
Neglect of properties
Ways to encourage responsible homeownership
Fines and penalties for violations
Faith in current systemic* response to quality of life issues
Possible ban on renting to undocumented immigrants
Effectiveness/expansion of Code Enforcement
V. Findings

According to our Code Enforcement Office, there were 1900 rentals in the Borough in December of 2005. Approximately 95% of these properties are owned by absentee landlords. Absenteeism contributes to overcrowding, neglect of property, and exploitation of tenants.
Overcrowding
Strains our schools.
Strains municipal services.
Places a significant burden on our code enforcement personnel.
The anonymity and transience of residents in an overcrowded home degrades a sense of community in a neighborhood.
Neglect, which often coexists with overcrowding, causes the following HEALTH AND safety concerns:
Unsanitary conditions
Insect/vermin infestation
Structural wear and tear
Plumbing overuse
Fire hazards, both from electrical misuse/overuse, and from poor or nonexistent ingress and egress
A landlord’s NEGLECT is often a nuisance or hardship to neighboring residents, and is detrimental to the appearance of a neighborhood.

TENANTS MAY BE EXPLOITED in the following ways:
They may be charged inflated rental prices
Their quality of life is negatively affected when property is neglected.


RECOMMENDATIONS FROM RENTAL PROPERTY ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO FREEHOLD BOROUGH COUNCIL

This Committee was formed to examine issues relating to Borough rental properties. Issues examined include exploitation of tenants, overcrowding, neglecting to maintain interior and/or exterior of rental properties, and otherwise compromising the health, safety and welfare of the community. Rent control, a concept which was studied by this Committee, was not found to be an effective tool with which to combat the problem of overcrowding.

Our recommendations follow:

1. (Adopted) Institute mandatory annual inspections of all Borough rental properties. This will allow code enforcement officers access to rental properties on a regular basis.

2. Hire additional, well-trained support staff and inspectors in the Code Enforcement Office. This would enable the Office to perform inspections in Recommendation 1, and to handle Quality of Life complaints thoroughly and in a timely manner.

3. Ensure that tracking methods currently in use are efficient for following up on complaints and violations. The more time Code Enforcement staff has to spend on data entry, the less time they have to inspect and address emergencies and complaints. Records should be capable of being accessed quickly at all stages of the process.

4. Review and update all ordinances on the books with the purpose of enforcing ALL of them. It is the Committee's opinion that strict, vigorous, non-discriminatory enforcement of all ordinances, while not always done at present, will go a long way toward alleviating undesirable conditions. This will be facilitated by the hiring of additional staff (Recommendation 2).

5. Increase fines for violations of Borough codes and ordinances. These fines should reflect the severity of the offense. This increase in revenue could offset the cost of Recommendation 2.

6. Levy fines for every violation occurring simultaneously, rather than fining for one violation only.

7. Discontinue the practice of fining only one owner in a multiply-owned residence. Fine each owner, thereby increasing revenue and further inconveniencing landlord(s). Similarly, in the case of overcrowding, a fine should be issued for EACH resident occupying the premises beyond the legal limit.

8. For landlords whose properties are overcrowded, request jail or community service. Post names of landlord offenders in the newspapers in order to discourage future offenders. Forward offenders’ names to the IRS and NJS Division of Taxation (landlord is likely not reporting the income from all tenants), as well as to their mortgage company and insurer.

9. Institute restitution measures against landlords who violate ordinances. For example, require landlord to 1) reimburse a tenant for relocation expenses upon issuance of overcrowding violation; 2) reimburse the school district for children of illegally-housed tenants who wrongfully attend our schools. In the case of fire in an overcrowded or otherwise unsafe unit, landlord should be forced to reimburse the Borough for its remediation expenses.

10. Ensure that each residence has sufficient property and casualty insurance coverage. Proof of sufficient insurance can be presented during landlord registration.

11. Increase fines for each repeat occurrence of a violation. For subsequent overcrowding violations, revoke certificate of occupancy and/or landlord registration. Require landlords with prior violations to post bond with the Borough. Place a lien on the property when landlord has outstanding fines due to the Borough.

12. “Deputizeâ€

Hello ALIPAC,

This site rocks! and I do believe that it should be required reading for all of the politicians. Maybe they will get a clue.

Anyway, we have been very busy here in good ol' Freehold Borough. The above recomendations from the rental board are a real boost. After the little law suit, it is a good way for us to start off the new year. This town and it's good people are planning many more initiatives in the near future. Keep your eyes open. It will be a good year for us.

Brian
PEOPLE FB

Welcome PeopleBrian

This is great news!

I do believe the tide is turning in the right direction! Thanks for the information.

Originally Posted by PEOPLEBRIAN

Hello ALIPAC,

This site rocks! and I do believe that it should be required reading for all of the politicians. Maybe they will get a clue.

Anyway, we have been very busy here in good ol' Freehold Borough. The above recomendations from the rental board are a real boost. After the little law suit, it is a good way for us to start off the new year. This town and it's good people are planning many more initiatives in the near future. Keep your eyes open. It will be a good year for us.

Brian
PEOPLE FB

Hey to you, PB!
Keep us posted and you know we will back you up

FREEHOLD B. ROCKS - your courage & determination speak volumes.

We're all in this together, one town at a time, one state at a time.....we will take our beautiful country back from those that would give her away, piece by piece.

btw: check mail

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articl ... 90370/1029

Code measures long overdue

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 02/9/07
Post Comment

The failure of the federal government to manage the nation's immigration problem has led many municipalities to take steps to address housing issues raised by the influx. Freehold's Rental Property Advisory Committee is on the right track with a series of common-sense recommendations that target absentee landlords, tenant exploitation and apartment overcrowding.

It is unfair to disparage the committee's report, presented to the Borough Council Monday, because one of its 15 suggestions refers to an ordinance adopted elsewhere that would require renters to produce valid proof of citizenship or permanent residency. As the panel properly noted, such a local law may not pass constitutional muster. But the other recommendations should be given serious consideration by the Borough Council in its efforts to ensure public safety and improve Freehold's quality of life.

Safety concerns are paramount. Councilman Marc LeVine, council liaison to the committee, said absentee landlords have ignored borough ordinances. There have been instances of people not listed on the property's lease living in unapproved attics and basements. The borough doesn't need a multi-fatality fire to dramatize the extent of the violations.

One of the recommendations, mandatory annual inspection of rental properties, already has been adopted. Other ideas support efficient operations by the code enforcement office, including more inspectors and staff, a review of relevant ordinances and better follow-up of complaints and violations. Stiffer fines for repeat violators and restitution to the tenant for relocating costs or the school district for educating children housed illegally should make landlords think twice about flouting housing codes.

The committee should rework one suggestion that would "deputize" public works employees to report possible code violations. One committee member, Latino rights advocate Frank Argote-Freyre, is right in challenging that proposal. "Deputizing" sounds too much like extending police powers to other borough workers. Maureen Haley, the committee chairwoman, says the panel intended to encourage anyone in the community to report suspected violations. That's a responsibility of any citizen that's worth repeating.

Argote-Freyre says that calling for proof of citizenship or permanent residency redirects the focus from absentee landlords to immigration, a national issue. Until Congress and the Bush administration take action to crack down on those who profit from illegal immigration, municipalities affected by a rising number of immigrants will be forced to take action to protect the best interests and safety of all their residents. Freehold's advisory committee has done its part. Now it's Borough Council's turn.