BRICK – Township rental properties will be subject to annual inspections in order to receive an annual rental certificate.
Previously, inspections only took place when there were new tenants, but during a recent council meeting, the governing body voted unanimously for the change.
“In this ordinance, the township’s code enforcement officers will conduct these annual inspections which provides us with the ability to ensure that there is adequate code compliance for all rentals,” said Council Vice President Derrick Ambersino.
Councilman Gregory J. Cohen said he had received an email from a resident who owns multiple properties and said he was very unhappy about this ordinance.
“I can understand where they’re coming from,” Cohen said. “Being a property owner – the increase in the cost for the annual inspection – but what we’re hearing and what we’re seeing in town really makes this ordinance extremely important in order to keep the quality of life for our residents where it should be.”
Referring to the same email from the resident, who also expressed concern about the cost of chimney inspections, Councilwoman Lisa Reina said that is not something that is included in the annual inspection.
Councilman Cohen said that speaking as a former firefighter at Pioneer Hose Fire Company, chimney fires are very common.
“Their objection to the chimneys being inspected – I believe everybody’s chimneys should be inspected,” he said. “The chances of a fire are substantial, especially if a chimney isn’t being used by a prior tenant [who] never used it, a new tenant comes in, they start to use it – it could be an absolute problem.”
Township Business Administrator Joanne Bergin said the current policy is a chimney gets inspected every time the township issues a rental inspection.
“So every time a tenant changes, or a property goes from owner-occupied to rental, so when they come and get their rental certificate…there is a chimney inspection done as part of that,” she said.
When the annual inspections begin, per the new ordinance, the checklist is not as extensive as an initial rental, she added. The chimney inspection would be included when there is a change in tenant or when it becomes a rental property for the first time.
During public comment, Christopher Alino asked the governing body to vote against the ordinance, saying he thought it was excessive to go from “once and done to once every year.”
He said that surrounding Ocean County townships do not conduct yearly inspections.
“I believe there should be some changes, but it is a big jump to go annually,” Alino said. “Why do we need this ordinance? I mean, are there that many complaints? You wouldn’t want somebody from the township going in and inspecting your house every single year.”
Resident Roxanne Jones asked the administration what the inspection entails.
Bergin said code enforcement officials have a checklist for annual inspection for rental properties. She said the township gets a lot of complaints about rental properties being overcrowded, which creates problems in the neighborhood.
“Our code enforcement officers’ hands are tied when we get these complaints, because we can’t knock on the door and we can’t see if there’s mattresses on the floor that shouldn’t be there and we can’t see if they’re exceeding occupancy,” she said.
Councilman Cohen said township landlords “should be thankful that we are pursuing this ordinance – this gives them eyes inside their homes.”
He said the ordinance not only protects the landlords but also the residents living near rental properties. He said he guarantees that other townships are going to follow suit and will enact similar ordinances.
“We are a leader in this district,” Cohen said. “We are not a follower…the rest of the county is going to do what we’re doing here.”
