Village News

Village of Valley Stream: Rental registry will take time

Officials say permits will help enforce village code

Posted

The village’s new rental permit law, which was met with a mixed response from residents, took effect on Aug. 15 — though officials say the process of establishing a rental registry and enforcing new requirements for absentee landlords could take up to a year to complete.

“If the landlord is absent, then there is a possibility for problems,” said resident Carol Crupi, who owns and lives in a two-family home in the Gibson neighborhood of Valley Stream. “It might be a good idea.”

The law requires that absentee landlords of single-family, two-family and townhouse properties (those with separate entrances) obtain rental permits from the Building Department that are valid for two years, at which time they must reapply.

In tandem with New York State’s new “zombie home” law — which is creating a registry of owners of vacant properties — village officials said they hope the new law will help with the upkeep of the area, and give them tools to monitor rental arrangements so they don’t get out of hand.

Resident Ginette Caccavale Mayer said she rented to tenants who began selling drugs out of the property, but she wasn't able to address the situation because there was no system of oversight.

"It cost me $1,000 to take them to court," she said. "The police were surveilling the house, and the original lease was for four people, but by the time I got them out there had to be 10 people living there. They even had people in the basement. This was a legal two-family and my hands were tied."

She said she lived down the street from her rental home and watched the tenants "destroy the quality of life for the people who lived on this block."

"If the law is as it states, and they had probable cause — too many people living there, etcetera — to enter enter the premises through a warrant then I think it would have changed things [for me]. When I called the village and told them there were too many people living there, they said there was nothing they could do."

The standard fee for a permit is $400, and is due at each renewal, though there are several exceptions. For example, the fee is $200 if the applicant qualifies for an enhanced STAR property tax exemption, a veteran’s exemption or a senior citizen’s exemption at his or her primary residence if it is in the village. For rental property owners who have been found guilty of violating the new law, the fee would increase to $500.

The law also grants the village the authority to enter a rental property with the consent of the owner or property manager if it is unoccupied, or with the consent of tenants if it is occupied. The village can get a search warrant for any property it is denied access to.

Before the law was passed, village officials said, they had no system of oversight over apartments and the rental process. Properties are zoned as single-family, two-family, three-family or four-family in Valley Stream. The only enforceable violation would occur if more people occupied the home than the zoning code allowed — which officials said is difficult to police.

Buildings Superintendent Tom McAleer said that Code Enforcement officers routinely patrol the village’s neighborhoods, but unless they are tipped off, they don’t necessarily witness behavior that would indicate that there are too many people living in one property.

“It’s a process,” McAleer said, adding that if such a situation is identified, the village mails a summons to the address informing residents of the violation.
Under the new law, property owners must list the number of tenants who will occupy their rentals and for how long, and must provide floor plans showing the location and size of each bedroom. They must also allow the Building Department superintendent to inspect the properties, or provide written certification from licensed architects or engineers that the properties are up to village code.

“We want to be able to communicate with not just the homeowner, but the renter,” McAleer said.

“Twenty people living in one house — we’ve seen that,” Village Clerk Bob Barra said. “We have to curtail that, because it affects the whole infrastructure.” He explained that when a residence is over-occupied, it burdens the school system, garbage pickup and parking.

Since there is no existing rental registry, Barra said it was still unclear how the village would decide which residents to inform of the new process, and how they would be told. “We have some decisions we’re going to have to make on this, on how we’re going to let people know,” he said, adding that there would be an “educational process” in the law’s implementation.

According to Barra, the impetus for the law was, in part, the results of a focus group a few years ago that found that residents’ biggest concern was their quality of life. “We’re going to take it on a case-by-case basis,” he said, noting that the most helpful component of the law is the information the village will now have on rentals.

Susan Gargiulo, who owns a two-family home but had hoped to rent the entire property in her retirement, said she didn’t believe the law would fix many of the common problems residents face when renting.

“I do not see how imposing a permit and fee is going to stop the illegal rentals, either single-family or multiple dwellings,” she said. “Those who are illegally renting are certainly not going to obtain a permit. They will continue doing what they do now, and take that chance they will not get caught.”

Gargiulo said that of the two rental homes on her block, the problematic house is not the one with the absentee landlord. “The owner lives in the home, but there must be 10 or 15 people who also live in that home,” she said. “I believe he rents rooms. It has been reported to the village. Nothing happens.”

What do you think about Valley Stream’s new rental property law?
Send letters to the editor to nciccone@liherald.com