Rent control for Brick mobile home parks doubtful Attorney's opinion to be presented in 'undisclosed document' BY COLLEEN LUTOLF Staff Writer BRICK - After asking the Township Council for months to adopt a rent control ordinance for mobile home parks, one park resident got an answer last week from the township attorney - probably not. "You passed an ordinance [to hold accountable] landlords who take advantage of the less fortunate," said Laurelton Mobile Home Park resident Don Kline told the council at the Oct. 24 council meeting. "What is the status of rent control over there [the park]? We're running out of time." "We asked the township attorney quite a while ago about rent control," Council Vice President Stephen C. Acropolis responded. "We're waiting. We would love to say yes, we can do it." "Can the council adopt rent control?" Township Attorney Scott Kenneally said. "Absolutely. However, it is how you enact it." Barnegat Township created rent control for its mobile home parks almost 30 years ago. Kenneally questioned the legality of that town's ordinance, although Barnegat officials said last week that Barnegat's rent control ordinance for mobile home parks has never been challenged in court by any mobile home park landlords. If the township were to establish rent control for one apartment complex, "that property owner could raise a claim. You have a legitimate problem without question," Kenneally told Kline. "[But] can our governing body legally single out and tell that landlord what they can take?" A landlord may claim inverse condemnation or file a tax appeal against the town, Kenneally said. "There is no sentiment up on the council to tell all the landlords what they can charge," said Acropolis. Kenneally's opinion will not be publicly disclosed and will come in the form of a "privileged document," Kenneally said Approximately 70 Laurelton Mobile Home Park residents have received eviction notices from their landlord, Edgewood Properties. Residents have been withholding their rents for over six months because they say the park is not properly maintained by their landlord. The Jack Morris real estate development firm purchased the park in Jan. 2005. Residents want rent control to prevent their rents from increasing. Edgewood attempted to increase residents' rents last year with a promise to start upgrading the park. The rental increase came but old sewer and water pipes remain. The issue reached somewhat of a stalemate after the council introduced an ordinance in February that would create rent control in the township's two mobile home parks. The landlord temporarily rolled back the rents to what they were originally - approximately $365 a month - and the council tabled the measure that would have mandated rents in mobile home parks increase no more than 5 percent annually. Acropolis said at the time that the council could reintroduce the ordinance at a later date if it needed to. The tenuous relationship between Morris and his tenants further devolved after Morris notified the town in March that his firm had used recycled concrete material it had obtained for free from the demolished Edison Ford Motor Co. plant to fill in potholes at the mobile home park. The material was later discovered to contain polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) levels deemed unsafe by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for residential use. An Edgewood Properties spokeswoman released a statement regarding their tenants' withholding rents and Edgewood's attempts to rectify problems at the park: "Edgewood Properties can and will continue to do all it can, within reasonable financial parameters, to improve the quality of life for the residents of Laurelton Mobile Home Park. We have made all the improvements residents have asked for and have responded daily, often hourly, to any new issues raised. While the conditions of the sewer and water lines were an inherited problem, we do plan to replace them and are awaiting [state] DEP and municipal approvals. Unfortunately, some residents have unfairly used this situation to avoid paying their rent, many since March of 2006. We do however, appreciate the many tenants who do understand that we are diligently working to rectify the issues." There are two mobile home parks in town, the embattled Laurelton Mobile Home Park owned by Morris and Pinewood Mobile Home Park on Princeton Avenue, owned by Lisa and Richard Lau. The Pinewood park has been a family-owned, age-restricted park for over 30 years. The Laurelton Mobile Home Park was too, until Morris purchased it last year. Morris also attempted to purchase the Laus' mobile home park around the same time, Richard Lau said. "We have had overtures since he bought the other park," he said. Lau said he would not be opposed to rent control for the township's two mobile home parks since he keeps rents at his park low already, he said. "We've always tried to be fair at our park so if that's what's necessary to help these people, then my wife and I don't have a problem," he said. "I'm just wondering where we are," Kline said. "I'm anxiously awaiting to hear it." Another Laurelton resident is also anxious to hear Kenneally's finding. "Why can't it be checked out with another lawyer to find out if another lawyer has the same opinion?" asked Bonnye Spino, the president of the park's homeowners association. "If they don't, then who cares? Let's do it. I think I've waited long enough for an answer." An eviction hearing for the residents scheduled for Oct. 30 has been postponed to Nov. 17, Spino said.