Was your rent recently raised a "considerable amount of money"? If yes, know that you are very much not the only one in this situation.
Lakewood's Township Committee has adopted a Rent Control chapter, however, it leaves room for quite a lot of exemptions.
This has caused numerous tenants and landlord disputes, including many which have landed in court and Beis Din.
The Township's Rent Control Chapter is located within the Township's ordinance book at Chapter 14.
Below are some key excerpts:
14-1.3
a.
Permitted Rental Increases. Landlords who supply tenants with heat are hereinafter permitted to raise rents on rental units governed by this section once a year at a flat rate increase of six and one half (6.5%) percent over the previous base rent permitted by this section or any prior ordinance except as otherwise hereinafter set forth. Landlords who do not supply tenants with heat are hereinafter permitted to raise rents on rental units governed by this section once a year at a flat rate increase of 5% over the previous base rent permitted by this section or any prior ordinance except as otherwise hereinafter set forth. This increase shall be effective at the expiration of a lease or termination of a rental period provided at least one year has passed since the last increase.
c.
Notice of Increase. Any landlord seeking an increase pursuant to subsection 14-1.3a, "Permitted Rental Increases", subsection 14-1.3b, "Optional two Year Rental Increase", subsection 14-1.6, "Tax Surcharge", or under any other subsection permitting an increase without application to the Rent Control Board, shall notify the tenant in writing of the calculations involved in computing the increase at least 30 days prior to the effective date of the increase. The increase shall not be effective unless and until 30 days written notice thereof is given to the tenant.
d.
Accumulative Increase. In order to encourage landlords not to raise rents yearly, the rental increase shall be cumulative. That is, except as set forth in subsection 14-1.3b, any landlord who does not raise a tenant's rent at a time permitted by this chapter, or who does not raise the rent the full permitted percentage increase, shall, at a later date, have the right to increase the rent prospectively at an increase percentage determined by calculating the normal percentage permitted and pro-rating that percentage based on the number of months that have expired since the last increase. In no event shall a cumulative increase exceed four years for existing tenants. The initial rent of a tenant shall be the maximum permitted by this subsection, unless the landlord notifies the prospective tenant, in writing, prior to the onset of the tenancy of his temporary waiver of the cumulative increase.
14-1.4
Exemptions.
The following rental units are exempt from the provisions of this section to the extent set forth below.
c.
New Construction. Any person, firm, corporation or entity placing on the rental market for the first time after June 25, 1987, or after such a date as required by State law pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:42-84.1 et seq., any newly constructed residential housing space within the Township of Lakewood, and as described pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:42-84.1 et seq., shall be entitled to charge any rental to any tenant that may be obtained by an agreement between the parties, and the unit shall remain exempt from the provisions of this section for seven years from the date of the initial Certificate of Occupancy for the unit or for such a time period as required by State law pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:42-84.1 et seq. However, the landlord shall, during the exempt period, notify all prospective tenants in writing prior to commencement of any tenancy that:
1.
The unit is exempt from rent control pursuant to this section.
2.
The date upon which the exemption terminates.
d.
Existing Housing Space Placed on the Rental Market for the First Time. Any person, firm, corporation or entity placing on the rental market for the first time after the effective date of this ordinance, any existing residential housing space within the Township of Lakewood, shall be entitled to charge any rental to any tenant that may be obtained by an agreement between the parties and thereafter the unit shall remain exempt from the provisions of this section for seven years from the date of the initial Certificate of Occupancy for the unit. However, the landlord shall, during the exempt period, notify all prospective tenants in writing prior to the commencement of any tenancy that:
1.
The unit is exempt from rent control pursuant to this section.
2.
The date upon which the exemption terminates.
f.
Buildings Containing four Rental Units or Less. Buildings containing four rental units or less, providing that they are:
1.
Owner occupied; and
2.
Not part of an overall complex such as a garden apartment complex.
14.5
Hardship Increase. A landlord may seek a hardship increase pursuant to subsection 14-1.12.
b.
Unusual Expenses. A landlord may be entitled to an unusual expense increase in addition to the annual increase where the unusual or unexpected cost of providing heat or utilities, or of making major capital expenditures or capital improvements may require a substantial investment or expenditure by the landlord to offset such expenses. These special items shall be allowed only on special application to the Rent Control Board for good cause shown. Clear proof of the cost must be furnished.
14--1.12
Hardship Increase.
A landlord who finds that present rentals are insufficient to cover the cost of mortgage payments, taxes and maintenance may seek a hardship rental increase. The Rent Control Board may grant a hardship rent increase to meet these payments.
How are you managing with your rent increase?
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2 comments:
The committee decided to help the Westgate rental management company back in 2016 by abolishing the rent control board. A tenant filed a complaint against some of their unfair practices which was being heard at the Board. Things were not looking good for the management team, so before the board could even render a decision, the Twp Committee members quickly shut it down. If the committeeman wouldn't have worked so hard to help his buddy, then the RCB could have clarified all of these issues.
I was the Mayor then at that time and I decided that it doesn't serve the interests of the community to have a rent control board. It's as simple as that. There's no reason to keep bringing up the issue again. Why can't people just forget about it already!
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