Thread: Infested House Lambertville, NJ

Just so you all have the story straight!



LAMBERTVILLE -- Larry Steinhouse stuck two signs Monday in the small patch of grass in front of 118 Douglas St. It's his way of protesting the controversy -- and now the charges -- surrounding the discovery by city police of 30 people living in his home.

One sign, directly in front of the house, advises officials that tenants don't have permission to allow inspections of the home. Now, according to the sign, inspectors won't be allowed in the single-family house unless Steinhouse accompanies them.

The second placard, posted near the road, carries a political message:

"ATTENTION: I am a Landlord; my job is to rent houses to people who need them. I am NOT the Border Patrol, I am NOT the INS, I am NOT Customs and I am NOT the police. If they can't do their jobs, don't make me the scapegoat."

Steinhouse said Monday he is an accountable property owner who is being held responsible for legal issues far beyond his control. In fact, Steinhouse claims, state law and Lambertville's housing ordinance, which was unanimously adopted in March, are seemingly at odds with one another.

"I've done everything they're (city officials) asking me to do, and now I'm stuck between the laws," Steinhouse said.

Steinhouse, of Newtown, Pa., said he first heard of his property's overcrowding issue when a city inspector called him in August to let Steinhouse know that he had missed the deadline to submit a Landlord Registration Statement. Within 24 hours, Steinhouse said he had compiled a list of tenants -- 13 at the time -- as well as the home's dimensions and a required $50 payment. He still has the receipt -- signed and dated Aug. 4.

What Steinhouse takes issue with is a section of the city housing ordinance that requires landlords to monitor any increase in the number of adult tenants that would break the law. The ordinance gives landlords 10 days to report the names of new tenants that would push the occupancy limit above what's approved for the dwelling.

Steinhouse said if anyone should be held responsible for the overcrowding and apparent squalor reported by police Sept. 7, it should be the tenants, who Steinhouse said betrayed him by not keeping him updated. And, Steinhouse said, according to state law, landlords can be charged with a disorderly persons offense if they try to evict.

The city's ordinance states that "neither the tenant nor the landlord shall permit more tenants to occupy the dwelling unit than the maximum number of tenants set forth in the approved Landlord Registration Statement."

Police said Monday that Steinhouse was charged with violating the city's Rental of Housing Units ordinance, occupancy requirements, allowing people to reside in a dwelling in excess of sleeping accommodations, renting a dwelling unit where the number of tenants exceeds the number of sleeping accommodations and knowingly permitting a number of people grater than the maximum number of permitted occupants.

Steinhouse said that other than seeing news reports of the overcrowding and Monday's charges, he was never told if the 13 tenants violated the city's housing code.

Police said Steinhouse also will be charged by Lambertville's zoning officer, John Barczyk, with failure to complete a Landlord Registration Statement. Barczyk declined to comment on the case.

Pablo Ramirez, a tenant who police said is responsible for collecting and paying rent, also was charged with the housing violations, police said.

Steinhouse, 42, said he owns multiple properties in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and South Carolina and gives seminars on how to rent successfully. In all the time he's rented properties -- since age 19, he said -- he's never had a problem like this.

"I'm not a slum landlord," he said. "I do everything I can to not be one."


Brandon Lausch can be reached at (90 782-2300 or blausch@c-n.com

Hey Steinhouse! You are a landlord. You are regulated by the local governing bodies that are controlled by the elected representatives of the people.

Stop trying to tell the world you are just trying to make a buck.

Plenty of landlords rent homes without having 30 illegal aliens stuffed in them.

Show some pride in your country. Show some concern for your community. Show some social responsibility with your business decisions.

W

you missed the point!

We need every American ready to stand in this fight. No more passing the buck. This invasion is NOT someone elses problem. Landlords, cities, counties, states, and the Federal government all must act and nobody should sit down just because the Executive Branch is failing us.

W

Well, in my book the landlord is responsible, just the same as people who hire illegals, knowing they are not legal here, yet they do it, why? They know they can keep more in their pockets by hiring someone under the table and at the very least not paying the minimum wage, let alone the taxes.

Now for the landlord issue, there is a law about that and it is the Federal Immigration and Naturalization Act which states that no one, no matter their conciense, religious beliefs or otherwise will aid and abet or harbor illegal aliens, all with reasonable knowledge that the person they are renting to could possibly be illegal.

As well, 13 in a three bedroom place? That is way too many, and not at all a good idea, and where I live, against county codes, which only allows two per bedroom plus one (the one can sleep in a den or living room). So in a three bedroom place that would be 7, not 13, that is almost double the amount.

As well, this overcrowding situation taxes the electrical system, the water and sanitary system as well as the garbage situation.

There are two reasons this has my blood boiling. You might keep your properties in proper working order, the electric and plumbing and so on, but when you do not regularly check on your rental properties and just keep collecting your rent, without regards to the community it is in, and also about who might have rented, where they came from, what their legal status was, you are being a slumlord because all you have cared about is maintaining the place at a minimum and collecting the rent.

Greed, greed, greed. Aiding and abeting illegals and harboring them, all for the almighty dollar. There are ways to check on their legal status, it is called a background check and can be done with a social secutiry number, once it comes back as not legit, all you have to do is decline the application. If they make an excuse about not being able to supply you with a social, then politely decline. All Americans would back you up on this. We believe in walking the straight line.

No man or woman that knowingly makes money off of illegal immigration is innocent.

W

No, the point wasn't missed. You're trying for the "It wasn't my fault I didn't know" argument and that doesn't wash.

You failed to keep yourself updated on the laws and ordinances at all times and failed meet the required deadline. As an owner/landlord, everything that happens to and on your property is your responsibility.

As you are aware, Newton is looking to implement the same kind of laws/ordinances that Hazelton and Allentown are going for. Better get on the ball.

First of all, the ordinance passed and they never notified the landlords, as soon as i was notified i complied. Second, i did not know they were illegals and it is illegal for me to ask when renting! It is not like labor laws that make you ask. As far as the number of people in the house it is a very big house over 3600 sq feet and 5 bedrooms. The township allows a maximum of 13 people in that house and believe me i am not happy with 13 either, can you imagine the wear and tear on my 5 year old house! Next, i regurlarly maintain all of my properties and 4 months ago i had the entire place cleaned and painted and an exterminator regularly sprays the place. I never would want 30 people in my house and i had no knowledge of it. I am not happy about what they did to it either! My Arguement is not with allowing illegals it is about the laws contridicting eachother!

You people do not understand that is is illegal to discriminate and the laws for eviction tie my hands! Don't you see i am on your side of this arguement! That is the problem. The INS should get involved and should deport illegals who boldly anounce to the newspaper they are illegal.

I don't know if you rednecks can get this thru your heads, I am a victim here, not a contributor to the problem!

But i can not send these people back to mexico no more than you can. If you and i could we wouldn't be having this debate!

The laws make me a criminal if i try to evict them! Look it up!

Enjoy the rest of your debate!

As for Me, i will fight this, and hope that the law is not all on the tenant side in this case, as it usually is!

Maybe now you understand the point of my sign on my property!


LS

We need to do many things to reverse the flow of illegal aliens and create the proper market pressures for many of them to leave on their own volition. Our efforts must be on every level of government: federal, state, and local.

The four things we must do are: (1). Secure our Borders. (2.) Crack down on employers that intentionally hire illegal labor. (3.) Remove all benefits such as licenses, in-state tuition, and welfare for illegal aliens. (4.) Empower local police to enforce immigration law.


Your own mission statement excluded lanlord/tenant relationships, is this because you realize that in renting, it would be discrimination?

And again, I am on your side! This is America where we should speak English and have everyone follow the same set of laws including immigration laws!

!Se habla Englesh!

In the first place Mr. Lambertville, using name calling because you feel cornered is not only juvenile, but lends more credence to our side. It begins to show you as nothing more than someone who feels above the rest of America, just a point for you to ponder.

As for the issue of discrimination, your are not asking for their "papers" you need to have asked to see a social security number for all adults within the residence, have them checked and if/when they did not come back as either verifiable or legit, all you had to do was say no, not because they were Latino, but because you could not do a proper background check on them.

Would the point of saying no because they might have admitted they were illegal at any time a reason for the ACLU, or some other socialist pity group, to have tried to sue you for "discrimination", Americans would have stood behind you 100%, us, the Minutemen. All citizens in this battle would have donated funds to help you as a landlord to fight that, had the situation arisen.

In our state (Oregon) landlords are allowed to say no from time to time and it all has to do with having done those background or credit checks. If a person has a background issue, felony, drugs, violence, the landlord can say no. If the person either cannot or refuses to show identification for a background check, then most will not rent to them.

Did you do background checks? If you did not them how did you know who you were renting to, and if one of those people were possibly sexual predators? No, I am not suggesting that simply because they are illegals, it is because that has become a really big deal in our communities and when landlords fail to check on the backgrounds of their tenants, you could be renting to not only illegal aliens who have no right to be here, but potential criminals.

You as a landlord have that obligation to do this for the neighborhood you own your rental in. As well, when you do a background check (yes I am repeating myself), you can see the persons legal status, it is possible to know this.

I did reiterate so you would answer this time, my question about checking backgrounds, did you? If you did, had you noticed they were illegals?

As for the number of people, had you been in touch with the neighbors of your rental, they might have told you about it even if your tenants hid it from you. All it takes is to be locally involved, get to know the neighbors, and they would most likely given you the courtesy of calling to talk to you about the issue.

Yes sir, the government has failed Americans miserably, that's why we are here, but WE all have to take the high ground in this and not do anything that will give an inch to make it easier for illegal aliens to be here and stay here.

Rednecks in here, I think not.