By M. Emory Layne
My, but there’s a lot of name-calling going on these days. Some people are calling names, but backing it up with research and cut-and-dried information; others are throwing back “Oh yeah? Sez you! You’re a hypocrite!”
I’ll buy that for a dollar the moment they provide the documentation to prove it.
Okay, let’s revisit something, but this time in its entirety. First, here’s some reading material for y’all on the (ahem) non-existent New Jersey problem of students attending schools in districts they aren’t official residents of. Link to a New York Times article on the subject.
Now, in its entirety (so I can’t be accused of being hypocritical by pulling things out of context) is an article from the Courier-News, December 1, 2000.
North Plainfield Issues $6G Fine for Illegal Housing
By Edward Hayes, Staff Writer
NORTH PLAINFIELD - The borough has claimed a major victory in its fight against illegal housing, recouping almost $6,000 from a landlord who rented an illegal apartment to a family with a child.
The victory is the first of its kind for the borough, which has taken on more than 600 cases in the past four years. “This is the first time we are getting something back,” Mayor Janice Allen said.
Earlier this year, the state passed a resolution allowing towns to claim tuition reimbursements for illegally-housed children. In April, the borough passed its own ordinance affirming that fact. “Hopefully, this will be a way to stop it from happening,” Allen said.
Marthina Ngobide pleaded guilty to converting the third floor attic into an apartment and housing a family with a kindergarten child, according to court reports. In addition, Ngobide was fined $5,950 and $30 court costs. Ngobide declined to comment.
“That money will be given to the Board of Education as per law,” said North Plainfield Zoning Officer Allan Reading. He said the student must leave school by January 1, unless the family moves to the borough.
Allen said that the family was not in trouble because they did not realize they were in an illegal apartment. She added that the landlord is responsible for relocating the family.
Assistant Superintendent Robert Rice said the decision will be a benefit to a school system that is already overcrowded. “The district is pleased that there has been some attention paid to illegal housing and how it’s impacted on the school district,” he said.
This is not the first time for problems with this property, Reading said. In February, 1999, Ngobide was fined $1,100 for maintaining the attic apartment. “When I went back in March I found that they had not done anything,” Reading said.
Nathan Slovin, of the New Jersey Apartment Association in East Brunswick, said he did not disagree with the punishment. “If someone builds an illegal apartment, they should face the brunt of the law,” he said. However, he added that he was not confident that the state law that was enforced was fair to all landlords. “It creates a potential trap for the unwary,” he said, adding that sometimes the landlord is not aware of the overcrowding.
Allen says she hopes the case will serve as an example to other landlords. “I think that this is to make people aware that they can’t do this,” she said. “Unfortunately no matter how often you explain it, some (landlords) need to take a hit in the pocketbook to understand.”
Please note that the only person speaking in the article who isn’t all zippy-dippy happy about the situation is the guy speaking on behalf of the landlords.
Robert Rice of the school system stated he was very pleased with Mrs. Allen and the Zoning Officer. Shouldn’t they be vociferously supporting anyone in the NPCCR who’s been drumming this issue of late?
Mayor Allen was quite pleased with the attention this brought her - she even referred to it in election materials later that year. And we know full well that those 600 cases mentioned from 1996-2000 have not dribbled out to one or two in the last eight years; the documentation has already been presented.
So now, all ye visualizers of hypocrisy, what say ye? Wha hoppen?
5 responses so far ↓
Shocked&Amazed // May 8, 2008 at 7:51 pm
I am truly shocked and amazed. 600 cases and 1 person was held to account. That’s right, 2000 was an election year. Just look at what has been accomplished since then.
Have the rolls in the school system increased or decreased since 2000 when Allen addressed the problem?
Do we have as many or less illegal dwellings in town?
Since the local democrat team running for re-election has not done anything since 2000, will they tell us that they plan on addressing the issue now?
I hope that a partisan supporter of the Allen Group/Giordano Enterprises can answer the questions posed.
Heather DeGeorge // May 9, 2008 at 3:19 pm
I find it interesting that as a foster parent, every time I enroll a new child in the schools–someone shows up to “verify” that they are, in fact, living in my home. Know how they verify? They ASK.
That’s it.
I could lie–right? What would they know any differently?
(note: I am NOT lying, but just ’cause I’m honest doesn’t mean I don’t see the potential problem with this)
Honestly–do you really think the vast majority of people sending their kids to school here via a false address are doing it behind the back of the resident whose address they’re using? Probably one or two, but I’m guessing that most of this is using a resident who is willing to help a troubled friend or relative. So if you ask them is the child living here–they’re going to say “Yes”.
What happened to running the report by address, counting the kids assigned to that address, and (without any names involved to respect the privacy), cross-reference that to the number of bedrooms in the house that are on record in the assessors office to see if something looks out of whack?
It’s a START. Last time this was brought up (circa 2003-ish) it was all about “respecting the privacy of the residents” (this was the Board of Ed’s response).
I understand it is hard to crack down on illegal housing with the 24-hour notice requirement; but that makes it DIFFICULT. Not IMPOSSIBLE.
And Slovin’s comment about landlords being “unwary” is unclear. “Unwary” as in “inexperienced”? (a lesson quickly learned by a fine and part of doing business as a landlord… I say having BEEN one)… or “unwary” as in “unaware of what’s going on at your property”? It’s difficult sometimes to REALLY know what’s going on and you can’t just barge in because you own the place (unless there is a clear and present emergency/danger).
It takes more than driving by often to know that there is overcrowding. You can write into the lease that there will be inspections, but (and this is subject to verification) I believe that you have to give notice unless there is an emergency.
Long enough to clean up and scatter.
Barbara Habeeb // May 10, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Another way to check if there are “too many” children from one dwelling, is to cross reference the student’s last name to their address. You may find kids with several different last names at one household. This should raise the “red flag.”
There is an easy solution to get these names. Best person to contact is the school secretary in each building. She does the class lists and has ALL the names and addresses. She CAN tell you how many names are at one address. School administratiors should be able to review this and give that information to the Mayor, who in turn would send the zoing officer to the home to find out how many people are living in one unit. He would then notify the landlord of the appropriate action. I don’t believe this is a privacy issue, because it is a PUBLIC school and the PUBLIC has the right to know who attends our schools, just as the PUBLIC has the right to know the teachers and administrators salaries.
Oleh Kaniuka // May 11, 2008 at 4:40 pm
I am not familiar with any situation, before or since, whereby a landlord was fined an amout of this size for renting an illegal apartment. As Mayor Allen was “courageously” fighting this dastardly deed, and “proactively” addressing the illegal housing problem, in reality, the final result only created more hardship for this landlord (who, by the way, happens to be a black immigrant), and I don’t see any evidence that suggests that the illegal housing problem has improved since this “example” has been made (certainly the test scores in the schools would not suggest so).
Is it fair, therefore, to assume that fines of this magnitude are only levied against black landlords or immigrants accused of illegal housing, and that Mayor Allen is as racist as she is ineffective??? Does anyone know of any empirical evidence that supports the fact that illegal housing rules have been enforced equitably, and that progress has been made???
KW // May 12, 2008 at 11:11 am
I don’t think one enforcement in 8 years can be considered a pattern, for anything, let alone discrimination.
And Frank D’Amore pointed out at the Meet the Candidates last week that the case was thrown out of court eventually, because of technical flaws in the paperwork filed by the Borough or something like that.
So, the landlord apparently never paid, and the Borough apparently never collected, and as far as we know, that was the last time anything tangible was really even attempted to address illegal housing.
I think that, whether it’s Dems or GOPs who eventually do begin to enforce the housing codes, there will probably be a handful of false starts that get thrown out of court, also for technical reasons.
The administrative system is rusty and out of practice, and it’ll take a few mess-ups to figure out the details of how to give the right notices, conduct the right follow-up inspections, file the right papers at the right times, etc.
But like every other learning process, it can be done. Somebody just has to start.
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