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The Asbury Park Property Owners Association issued a statement this morning regarding the passage of a rent control ordinance by the City Council last night.

The following is the statement:

Sadly, and without thorough investigation, the City Council today passed rent control in Asbury Park, a moment that will be remembered for its genesis in politics rather than policy.

While this Ordinance will introduce negative impacts on all property owners, it is not nearly as devastating as what the Asbury Park Affordable Housing Coalition has proposed in its Referendum, which was the genesis for this Ordinance.  

There are three basic consequences from this Ordinance:

Increased Taxes.  Despite the Council’s efforts to create an equitable and manageable ordinance, there will be significant administrative expenses and there will be a transfer of the tax burden to single-family homeowners.  There is no way to avoid it: rent control increases taxes. 

Politics.  While we respect the argument that existing tenants need protection from unconscionable rent increase, most property owners issue modest annual increases, reflecting their interest in keeping existing residents in place as a means of avoiding the expenses of turnover.  There were other ways to protect tenants from high annual increases than enacting rent control, but due to the political pressure an extremist tenants group introduced when they sought Referendum, the Council settled on an unnecessary adoption of rent control.  Unless reason prevails in the Affordable Housing group and they withdraw, the community will still be confronted with a Referendum, which, if it passes, will negate its Ordinance and provide the extremists with the power shift that is their true objective.  

Vacancy Decontrol.  Including Vacancy Decontrol rescues property owners and mutes tax impacts. Most important to the preservation of the housing stock, it will provide the correct incentive to continue the type of renovation programs that have been common in Asbury Park through the City’s renaissance.

While opposed to rent control our position is that there has been sufficient dialogue on tenant protection, the Council formed a legitimate opinion and the Affordable Housing group should consider it a victory and move on.  There is no need for the Petitioners to push for a public referendum on their unnecessary, unenforceable, and overbearing ordinance. Simply put, again, Asbury Park has Rent Control, tenants are already protected. 

Background: https://appropertycoalition.com/

The APPOC Opposes the Petitioners’ Ordinance for many reasons, including:

1) It does not reduce any tenant’s current rent by one dollar.

2) It does not create or protect one unit of housing as affordable or create rentals based on the income in the household of the tenant.

3) It does not provide any housing assistance money for use by tenants.

4) It will depress the tax value of multifamily property and shift that tax burden to Homeowners and business owners who will face a greater proportional and actual tax burden.

5) The Municipality will incur significant administrative costs during a time of decreased revenue in the City will burden the City with this unplanned expense as well as the costs to administer and defend the unenforceable and unconstitutional aspects of the law.

6) Property Owners, facing impinged revenues, will cease renovating their properties and reevaluate planned improvement programs to the detriment of the housing stock.

7) CPI as the sole basis for rent increases is not representative of actual costs of operations of the properties being regulated. Property taxes, utilities, waste collection insurance, fuel, wages and other costs, are not passed through despite that they are consumed by the tenant as other residents in Asbury Park bear these same expenses with no regulatory relief.

8) People who do not currently live in Asbury Park will gain unwarranted and unneeded economic benefit to regulated and below market apartment rents despite that they are not in need of protections or subsidies.

9) Conversion of existing rental housing stock to condominium, and other reductions to the current rental inventory will be encouraged, putting further pressure on rental housing supply and pricing.

10) Recently constructed properties that did not anticipate rent control and therefore did not exempt themselves during the application for the Certificate of Occupancy do not have a mechanism or exemption under this Ordinance based on DCA rules and therefore will fall under rent control despite the intention that they be exempted, which will make the universe of properties that fall under rent control much larger, with these properties typically not even housing the people in the community who are most in need of assistance.

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