By Andrew Martins
Staff Writer
JACKSON – Current and future landlords who want to rent out property in Jackson will have to register with the municipal clerk’s office on an annual basis following the Township Council’s adoption of an ordinance that establishes registration guidelines.
The ordinance outlines regulations, fees and penalties for landlords who own single-family homes or dual-family units and rent those residences to other individuals.
The ordinance was adopted on May 24 with support from council President Robert Nixon, Vice President Ken Bressi, Councilman Barry Calogero and Councilwoman Ann Updegrave. Councilman Scott Martin abstained because he rents his home.
According to the ordinance, landlords who own single-family homes or dual-family units and rent out those residences will be required to register with the municipal clerk’s office every year. Landlords previously only had to register their ownership of a rental property with the township once.
A landlord will now be required to pay a $100 registration fee, provide contact information for the property owner, report the number of tenants who live in a rental property, state whether the tenants were screened by the landlord and tell the township the number of bedrooms there are at each property.
Any change to the property or its tenants will have to be registered with the township within 20 days of the change taking place, according to the ordinance. Municipal officials will be permitted to inspect a registered property whenever there is a change in occupants and/or every three years.
“It is very important to make sure we are dealing with the actual homeowner and unfortunately, we do not have the type of staff at town hall to start going through the county deed book to find out what is accurate and not accurate,” Nixon said. “We are going to rely on homeowners and property owners to provide accurate information.”
In the event a code official learns of violations at a property, the landlord will have 10 days after receiving a written warning to address the issue. If the violations are not addressed within 10 days, the ordinance allows Jackson’s housing official to revoke the rental certificate of occupancy attached to that property.
Additional measures could also be taken, including a fine of no more than $500, imprisonment not to exceed 90 days, or both. For each day a violation continues to persist at a property after the first 30 days, the ordinance calls for an additional $50 fine per day.
If more than two separate complaints are made against a registered rental property within a 24-month period, township officials will be able to require the property owner to post a bond to cover future incidents.
Proceeds from the bonds would be used to repay Jackson for potential damages caused to public or private property, any future fines levied against the property and any costs for “repressing and prosecuting such incidents of disorderly behavior” totaling between $500 and $5,000, according to the ordinance.
During the public hearing, Richard Hart, who has lived in Jackson for 75 years and has been a landlord for 35 years, criticized the ordinance for being redundant and needlessly harsh on landlords.
“I am a landlord and [the ordinance does not] leave me a way out,” Hart said. “As far as I’m concerned, if you want a bond, I’m never going to give you a bond. That’s not going to happen.”
Official said that after two years, if a bond has not been used as a result of infractions, the ordinance allows those funds to revert to the landlord.
Hart said a better option would have been for municipal officials to give a landlord a choice of posting a bond or evicting the offending tenants from his property.
Although Hart said the ordinance does little but cause unwarranted problems for landlords, Nixon said the ordinance was necessary for when a property “becomes the township’s problem.”
“You may be the most wonderful landlord the township has ever known … but unfortunately there are those who abuse the law, abuse their tenants, and who become problems for us when it comes to code enforcement issues,” Nixon said. “We do not have the ability to single out the good ones from the bad ones, but we have the authority under state law to adopt this ordinance and to add the annual registration to ensure we are getting proper compliance.”
