Howell Adopts Stricter Occupancy Rules For Rental Properties

HOWELL, NJ — Rental properties in the township have to meet posted occupancy requirements or face heftier fines under a revised ordinance adopted by the Howell Township Council this week.

Ordinance 23-4 was adopted unanimously by the council at its meeting Tuesday, Feb. 21.

According to the explanatory statement of the ordinance, it revised an existing rental property code to "define maximum occupancy, define a bedroom and increase the minimum fines for violations." The ordinance also specifies the calculation of a structure’s maximum occupancy.

Director of Community Development Matthew Howard, also the town land use officer, presented the need for the changes at a council meeting earlier this month.

And he further explained the impact of the revisions as adopted on Friday:

"By having the ordinance on the books, we can now require rental properties to post the occupancy load within the house. That way if our Code Enforcement/Housing staff is performing an inspection it will be clearly posted," he said.

He said the occupancy load will also be recorded within township files for reference.

"We also added the occupancy limits to the housing code, which means they apply to all residential uses. The posting requirement is only for rentals, of course. Having the limits codified clearly will allow us to write specific summonses for violations of those ordinance sections," he said.

The fine for not registering a rental is $1,000 minimum, he added.

"We increased the over-occupancy and failure to have a CO for a rental to the same $1,000 minimum," he said.

If someone is renting without any documentation, the fines will be as follows:

• $1,000 for failure to register as a landlord.
• $1,000 for allowing occupancy without a Certificate of Occupancy (CO).
• If there is clear evidence of over occupancy, that would be another $1,000 fine.
• All fines can be elevated to a maximum of $2,000 per violation.

The issue of over-occupancy was addressed at length by Howard at the Township Council meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 7.

At that meeting, Howard referenced a Jan. 23 fire on Lanes Pond Road that destroyed a large house and required a massive response from police, fire companies and EMTs. There were no injuries in the fire.

The owner of the property has now received numerous summonses from the township. The Municipal Court date has been pushed back so the summonses are still pending, Howard said Friday.

Here are some additional specifics from the revised ordinance:

"It shall be unlawful for any person, including the owner or agent, to allow a greater number of persons than the posted maximum number of occupants to sleep in or occupy any residential structure," the ordinance states.

Per the New Jersey Housing Code, the maximum number of occupants is computed in accordance with the following:

• (1) "Every bedroom occupied by one occupant shall contain at least 70 square feet of floor area, and every bedroom occupied by more than one person shall contain at least 50 square feet of floor area for each occupant thereof."
• "(2) Rental units shall not be occupied by more occupants than permitted by the minimum occupancy area requirements as set forth in this article. If there is a discrepancy regarding the number of occupants permitted pursuant to this article, the most restrictive requirement shall govern."

The ordinance states it "shall be unlawful and in violation of this article for an owner of any registered rental unit to:

• (1) Allow a number of people greater than the permitted maximum number of occupants to occupy any dwelling unit
• (2) Permit a number of people greater than the maximum number of sleeping accommodations to sleep in or occupy the dwelling unit overnight."

The ordinance also defines "bedroom."

• "For the purposes of this section a bedroom is defined as a room with a closet with a minimum measurement of 7ft in one direction and is located along an exterior wall but does not include a hall, bathroom, kitchen, living room, dining room, family room, laundry room, closet/dressing room. A bedroom may not be used to access another bedroom and must have at least two legal means of egress as defined in the Uniform Construction Code."

Legally existing mobile homes as defined in Howell Township Ordinance 204-22 are exempt from the occupancy standards outlined in this chapter, the ordinance says. "No mobile home or trailer shall be inhabited by a greater number of occupants than that for which it was designed by the manufacturer, as stated in Howell Township in Ordinance 204-32L."

The ordinance also states that after a certificate is granted upon inspection, the certificate expires on Dec. 31 of each year or with a change in tenancy or ownership.

Also, a certificate shall be issued to the owner for each rental unit, even if more than one rental unit is contained in the property.

The revisions also call for the maximum occupancy to be "posted in a conspicuous place in or about the dwelling."

And the ordinance also sets the fines outlined by Howard.

The ultimate goal, Howard has said previously, is compliance with the regulations, which he said the township will enforce fairly but vigorously.