Dan's Papers - June 20, 2008 - Estate Of Mind: Real Estate Rants and Rumblings

In January 2008, Southampton's Department of Building and Zoning started issuing a required two-year rental permit to regulate home rentals in Southampton. Home rental monitoring was started to curb the abuse of renting homes to more people than the home's legal occupancy. Some homeowners would chop a four-bedroom home into 12 timeshares. And there are stories of one person renting, and later, 16 people show up to sleep all over the house. The new law is geared to stop these unsafe and annoying practices.

The rental permits start at $250, with plenty of discounts for senior citizens, veterans, former firefighters and policemen. An official in Southampton said that if the occupancy of a home is 23, then the homeowner can legally lease out 23 rooms - as long as he has the permit. One Southampton real estate agent said she didn't know of the law, but hadn't done any rental contracts, either. One senior real estate agent said with his very upscale rentals the permit is not a problem, "due to the nature of the people I deal with. After all, there are not too many share houses at $80,000 per month. But some homeowners use Craigslist and just turn a blind eye and rent to anyone."

In the Town of East Hampton, an official in the supervisor's office said the town does not require a permit yet, stating, "We are waiting to see if Southampton's occupying law will stand up to court challenges." However, East Hampton Town already has some laws on the books. First, the number of unrelated people who can rent and live in any house, no matter the occupancy number, is four. Also, only four registered vehicles are allowed per home. As for renting rooms in homes that the owner also occupies, the number is set at two, no matter how many bedrooms are in the house. A person can, however, rent his house out to different people every day - just not to more than four unrelated individuals. For motels, the number is determined by a 2003 law that limits space to 70 square feet per person, which means 10 people cannot stay in a two-bed motel room.

Many of these laws were put on the books not to retard summer rentals, but because of safety and abuse issues of illegal immigrants and the horrors of small homes with 20 people living in a basement and using buckets for bathrooms. In East Hampton, the town police don't initiate enforcement of these codes unless the abuse is overt. Otherwise the process is: 1. A complaint is called in to the police who then, 2. Investigate, 3. Issue a summons, if deemed necessary, after which 4. The issue is brought before a judge who, if the violator is deemed guilty, will usually hand out a $250 fine per infraction. The police officer does not evict the illegal renters until a judge gives orders. Should the situation occur again the fines escalate upwards.

A few years back, when many motels were for sale in Montauk, the town flirted with the idea of official dormitory motels for immigrant summer workers. However, the discussions actually ended with more severe monitoring of the motels and laws regulating motel use for summer seasonal worker housing. One summer worker said, "They want us here to work, but they really don't want us around when we are not working." But mostly, the laws are aimed at the abuses of summer rentals. Lynn Ryan, an appointed member of East Hampton Supervisor Bill McGintee's staff, said, "The town had to get away from share homes with 25 people and mattresses all over the place. Honestly, how many homeowners enjoyed the idea of 25 people sleeping in their million-dollar homes? Especially if they thought they rented it to one person."

A big question is, what homeowner can truly know how many people sleep in his rented house on any given night? Who hasn't seen that abuse? A few years ago on Shelter Island, on the night of the 10K race, over 40 people stayed in a four-bedroom house, with many sleeping in tents, and all illegal. So the question remains, are permits a good idea to ensure safety and prevent abuses, or are they infringements to homeowner rights? The answer will probably be decided in court, but until then, everyone renting in Southampton should have his or her permits. If you don't, better head over to Southampton's Building and Zoning Department and apply for one. It's the law.