COURT HOUSE – The attorney representing the tenants of 230 of the 317 sites at the Shawcrest Mobile Home Park and Marina was in court on Friday, Feb. 21, telling the judge why his clients’ case against recent rent hikes should be argued in the Law Division rather than in Landlord/Tenant Court.

Attorney Anthony Monzo said the trial judge, Superior Court Judge James Pickering, questioned whether the Superior Court’s Law Division had jurisdiction in the case, a question he will decide by March 12, when the parties are scheduled to be back in court.

Monzo said he feels it is an appropriate case for the Law Division given the number of tenants he represents.

On Dec. 31, Monzo filed for an order for Legacy Management LLC, owner of Shawcrest, located off Route 47 just outside Wildwood, to show cause why rents were raised by double digits in at least two recent years.

He said a 5% increase this year seemed reasonable, but it came on the heels of a 19% increase last year and 18% the year before, a more than 40% increase over three years.

He said he has also filed for a preliminary injunction to prevent Legacy from filing for evictions prior to the matter’s being settled in court.

Legacy Management has declined to comment on the case.

Monzo said having the case be heard in Landlord/Tenant Court would put his clients at a distinct disadvantage because there is no discovery allowed and limited appeal rights in that court.

“We can’t prepare for a hearing or a trial if don’t get documents from the other party,” he said.

The papers include Legacy’s financial records that indicate how much lot rents have been raised. According to Monzo, the once modest lot rents, which were at one time $350 or $450 per month, are now about $1,000 per month for each of the 317 lots.

“And they have insufficient security, improper maintenance and have had undrinkable water for two, three years. They can’t even wash their clothes,” he charged. “Where are they going to go?”

Joe Sullivan, president of the Manufactured Home Owners Association of New Jersey Inc., called mobile home owners “captive residents.” He said they essentially have to pay what they are told to pay or risk losing everything.

“They are captive residents who will pay what you want or end up not paying and giving you the home or selling it cheap,” he said.

Sullivan said many mobile home owners are retired or low-income individuals who cannot afford the approximately $35,000 it would cost to move their mobile home to a less expensive community.

“We were seeing in places that didn’t have rent control, communities such as Cape May County especially, anywhere from 10% to 15% to 20% increases,” he said. “Often they start a little lower, and then the lot rents shoot up the next year.”

Sullivan spoke at a meeting in Upper Township two years ago where members of Pine Hill Mobile Home Court came to request help from the municipality. Similarly, residents from Shawcrest appeared at a Lower Township Council meeting in February 2023 asking the township to consider rent control for mobile home communities, as existed in Middle Township.

Before the end of the year, Lower Township declined to take action on the requested rent controls, with Township Manager Mike Laffey saying in November 2023 that the municipality did not have a part to play in what seemed to be a tenant/landlord dispute.

In the meantime, legislation was introduced in Trenton that would limit the ability of landlords to raise rents in mobile home communities.

First District Assemblymen Erik Simonsen and Antwan McClellan are co-sponsors of the legislation, which would limit annual lot rent increases landlords can charge mobile home owners.

On Jan. 30 the bill passed the General Assembly by a 51-21-2 vote. The Senate has not yet held a vote on the bill.

The bill, if passed by the Senate and signed by Gov. Phil Murphy, would prohibit landlords of mobile home parks and manufactured home parks from increasing lot rents by more than 3% in a 12-month period. The cap would include other fees, such as license fees charged by the landlord to the tenant, as well as tax surcharges passed on to the tenant and any other special expenses.

Under the bill, landlords would be able to petition the commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs for rent increases beyond the 3% cap in situations where current rents were insufficient to cover tax increases or capital improvements to the property.

Before filing the petition, landlords would be required to notify tenants. Failure to do so, or to comply with the 3% cap, could result in penalties of up to $1,000 per violation per rental unit.

Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.