Is something going on in your municipality that affects private property rights or the real estate industry? We can help!
Every year, NJ Realtors® tackles local issues head-on, helping communities fend off invasive ordinances limiting their private property rights or proposals that restrict your business as a Realtor®.
With help from the local boards/associations, NJ Realtors® has worked on issues that affect towns across the state - whether it was to defeat a harmful law or to support a bill that helps homeowners.
Below are some of the local issues NJ Realtors® has worked on recently:
Signs are a top tool in a Realtors®’ quiver. Open House and For Sale signs are important to help market properties. So, over the years, when a local government plans to implement sign ordinances that are prohibitive, the government affairs department has stepped in.
NJ Realtors® has worked with officials in each of the municipalities below to advocate for ordinances which allow signs or defeat those which prohibit them. Check with your local government for specific rules regarding postings.
- Brielle
- Carteret
- Clifton
- Denville
- Edison
- Fair Haven
- Fort Lee
- Freehold Township
- Hillsborough
- Hope Township
- Little Silver
- Metuchen
- Oceanport
- New Milford
- Pennsville
- Point Pleasant Beach
- Rockaway
- Shrewsbury
- Teaneck
- Tenafly
Toms River
Toms River saw an increase in real estate transaction delays and some of the highest Certificate of Occupancy fees in the state due to a new ordinance. This ordinance required sellers to obtain a Municipal Certificate of Continued Use and Occupancy (MCCUO) before selling a home. New Jersey Realtors®, in collaboration with local Realtors® and the local Realtor® board, successfully advocated for changes to the ordinance, including a streamlined process and reduced fees, while continuing to push for a full repeal.
Despite these improvements, New Jersey Realtors® remained committed to repealing the MCCUO ordinance entirely. The Toms River Council introduced an ordinance to begin the repeal process. New Jersey Realtors® fully supported the effort through to its successful conclusion.
Other towns that New Jersey Realtors® has been successful in lowering or eliminating CO fees includes Plainfield and Perth Amboy.
Phillipsburg
Working with the Warren County Board of Realtors®, New Jersey Realtors® raised concerns to an ordinance that would have created a system of rent control in Phillipsburg. New Jersey Realtors® raised concerns that rent control would make it more difficult for owners to keep their properties in good condition and actually lead to a lack of quality rental housing.
Asbury Park
Working with the Monmouth Ocean Regional Realtors®, New Jersey Realtors® helped defeat a ballot question that would have created a strict rent control policy in Asbury Park through the creation of a ballot question group funded by Issues Mobilization dollars. By opposing this ballot question, New Jersey Realtors® helped ensure that a previously approved ordinance would remain in effect that applied rent control only to multiple dwelling units as opposed to one and two-family homes and would maintain a system of vacancy decontrol.
One of the three main areas New Jersey Realtors® always engages in at the local (and other levels) of government is private property rights. Recently many towns across New Jersey have put forward ordinances that would restrict the ability of homeowners to rent out their homes on a short-term basis. This represents a concern for New Jersey Realtors®, who have raised alternatives to address quality-of-life issues such as short-term rental registrations and a three-strikes policy for short-term rentals.
Working with our local boards/associations, New Jersey Realtors® has been able to defeat ordinances that would have restricted short-term rentals in Absecon, Cherry Hill, Red Bank, Neptune, and Wantage.
New Jersey Realtors® has long argued that, in line with federal and state law, anyone should be able to purchase a home in an age-restricted community so long as they certify that the occupant will meet the community’s age requirement (i.e. the occupant will be over the age of 55 or 62, as applicable). In New Jersey Realtors® v. Township of Berkeley, New Jersey Realtors® opposed a 2022 ordinance in Berkeley Township that attempted to limit home sales in age-restricted communities to purchasers over 55 or 62.
On July 31, 2024 the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey ruled that the ordinance violated the Fair Housing Act and New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. It was determined that age restrictions are only permitted for occupants not buyers, thereby invalidating the Berkley Township ordinance.
