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New Rental Crowding Regulations Now In Effect
By Catherine Snipe
Landlords in the township can now be issued summons for overcrowding their rental properties with more tenants than allowed.
The township council approved a measure for occupancy limits in housing, putting a cap on overcrowding in rental properties.
The policy provides specific restrictions on rental housing to prevent overcrowding of rental properties. Officials said overcrowding could also result in safety hazards and has consequences for the neighborhood, too.
"It's a public safety issue," said acting township administrator Scott Pezzares. "There's a complicated formula to figure out how many tenants can live in X amount of space. The ordinance restricts landlords from, say, putting 15 people in a two or three bedroom house."
The ordinance mirrors the uniform construction code, and sets fines for overcrowding. It requires each rental property to post the measurements of living quarters, among other information, on a certificate near the rental's front door.
"That's so when police arrive at the scene, they can see it right there and don't have to rummage for it to find what's allowed at that site," Pezzares said.
Police may be responding to a noise complaint, and be able to discover if too many people are living in the dwelling, he said.
The ordinance does not solely focus on the number of people present, but on evidence that people are living there, such as bedding and mattresses.
"If an inspector goes into a bedroom and finds mattresses all over the floor, for example," Pezzares said. Just because a lot of people are present, doesn't mean the ordinance is broken, because it could be a party.
However, inspectors discovered cases where overcrowded rentals existed in the township, such as tenants living in an attic.
"Previously, we had no way of dealing with that situation," Pezzares said. Under the advice of the township lawyer, an ordinance was needed to stop such a situation.
The property owner would provide square footage dimensions of each bedroom, living room area, kitchen area, bathroom area, and the name and number of all tenants.
In addition, it would specify the occupancy limits of the property. It would also be a crime for anyone to use any premises without a certificate issued.
In addition to apartment complexes, the code applies to rental housing and summer rentals.
Council members said the ordinance could allow for greater public safety in rental properties. If a tenant living in an attic had to evacuate due to fire, they'd be forced to do so in a makeshift hole cut in the floor. Plus, a residence becomes harder to evacuate when it has too many people trying to escape.
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