Lower Will Not Entertain Rent Control

VILLAS – Lower Township Manager Mike Laffey told Lower Township Council Feb. 6 that the municipality does not have a part to play in what seems to be a tenant/landlord dispute between mobile home park residents and the property owner.
About 30 residents of the Shawcrest Mobile Home Community and Marina attended the Jan. 18 Lower Township Council meeting. The group’s spokesperson, John Niewinski, told council that the park’s owner, Legacy Communities LLC, had announced lot rent increases averaging 14.1% for residents. 
Niewinski said the residents were asking council to consider adopting a rent-control ordinance for mobile home parks, like what Middle Township has on its books. 
Middle Township’s online code book refers to allowable lot rent increases as, “Any amount equal to the percentage increase in the consumer price index as heretofore defined herein during the previous calendar year times the base rent or 3.5%, whichever is less.”
Laffey said he was in communication with some Shawcrest residents before they attended the Jan. 18 meeting and heard some of the residents’ complaints regarding code violations, specifically the storing of trash in a truck on the property and apparently tainted water. 
Laffey said he asked Code Enforcement to look into code violations, and, according to Code Enforcement Officer Walt Fiore, the trash problem was resolved very quickly.
Laffey said that in speaking with the park management regarding water quality, Legacy Communities said the residents needed to contact the municipality as the source of the water. 
Laffey said he pointed out to them that the Wildwood Water Utility provided the water and was responsible for the water quality up to the connection at the property. 
He said the owner of the property, Legacy Communities, is responsible for all the service lines within the mobile home park. Laffey said he sent a letter to Legacy Communities regarding the code violations and water quality issues, but the company had not yet responded to his letter.
At the Jan. 18 meeting, Niewinski said that after receiving double-digit lot rent increases in 2022, Legacy announced 2023 increases from 8.3% to 18.6%. He said where new residents were involved, lot rents increased by over 65% from 2020 numbers. 
A spokesperson from Legacy Communities quoted its chief operating officer, Andrew Fells, who said, as with most industries, economic conditions have changed drastically, noting interest rates have more than doubled, insurance costs have increased dramatically, and most common expenses have surpassed the consumer price index. 
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the index for the last 12 months has been 6.5% – as reported Jan. 12.
“We sought to lessen the impact of these increased costs on our existing residents by implementing higher rents as homes turn over,” Fells said. 
Residents of the Pine Hill Mobile Home Court community, in Marmora, owned by Lakeshore Communities Inc., have also raised the issue of dramatic lot rent increases by a corporate owner and planned to express their concerns at the Feb. 13 Upper Township Committee meeting. 
Joseph Sullivan, executive director of the Manufactured Home Owners Association of New Jersey, based in Jackson, said there has been a trend of corporations purchasing mobile home parks, often mom-and-pop operations where the owners would like to retire. 
He said the buyers use “predatory investing” techniques, where they intend to make up their investment through large increases in lot rents. 
He said a 7% lot rent increase at Pine Hill was excessive and expressed shock at hearing about the average 14.1% increase at Shawcrest. 
Sullivan said he was going to attend the next Upper Township Committee meeting and speak about “rent-leveling,” which, he said, municipalities are free to enact under home rule. 
He said it is possible to restrict lot rent increases to the index, plus a pass-through of real estate increase. 
He said corporations still make money under rent-leveling, and residents find living more affordable.
Laffey said after that Feb. 6 Lower Township Council meeting that while the municipality does not want to insert itself in a tenant/landlord dispute, the municipality is not completely disregarding the residents’ suggestion.
“The issue is not off the table,” he said. 
Thoughts? Questions? Contact the author, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.