JACKSON, NJ – There’s a golden egg lying in the archives inside Jackson Town Hall that is the key to eradicating illegal rentals once and for all, and the process can begin today.
Spearheaded by Mayor Jennifer Kuhn, the new Jackson Township Landlord Registry database is key to eliminating illegal rentals in the community, but it will take a community effort.
The landlord registry database includes the names of people who once hid behind the veil of generic-named LLCs. It was a great step forward by Mayor Kuhn to put faces to the previously faceless growing inventory of unkept homes once valued between $500,000 and $1,000,000.
Today, many of those homes, including one on my own street that houses at least four undocumented migrant families. They run some kind of automotive detailing service out of their home, most likely for an area used car lot, because each day, new cars lined our street with a group of men out there cleaning them. At one point, it was like living on car dealer row on Route 88.
The same thing is happening in many neighborhoods across Jackson. Once pristine single-family homes are now turning into rural tenements, negatively impacting our own home values and appeal.
The Mayor and Jackson Council have laid the groundwork for residents to begin taking their communities back, and it doesn’t have to rely on code enforcement, violations, or adherence to some township ordinance.
No, it’s much bigger than that.
Each landlord registry form not only lists the name of the landlord, but it requires the landlord to list the name of each adult occupant of the home.
When we, as taxpaying residents, buy our home, all of our personal information is made public, our names, our chosen bank, our mortgage, our most personal details are placed on public record by the county.
When criminal illegal aliens move to Jackson, there’s nothing, until now.
Investigating illegal rentals in your neighborhood starts with you. At any time, you can file an OPRA request for the landlord registry form for you neighborhood flop house and see who is registered to live there.
Now, let’s not think these landlords are playing by the rules. You might see just one adult name on the list, but your eyes don’t deceive you. Each morning while you’re going to work, you see at least 2 or 3 adult males going to work. You see a few different moms taking their different families to the same bus stop each day.
The landlord appears to violate the new ordinance by fraudulently filling out their form. That’s a start, but it’s not where the real power behind the new landlord registry lies.
That piece of paper lists the names of the people in the home. That is where the value is.
Report Illegal Alien Activity to ICE
As everyone knows New Jersey, and Jackson is facing both a housing crisis and an illegal immigration crisis. Federal authorities and even President Trump want every American to report illegal immigration.
By simply forwarding that form to your local ICE agency, or calling 1-866-DHS-2-ICE, residents can do their civic duty and report potential illegal immigration in their community.
By doing so, ICE can vet the claim, investigate and if criminal illegal aliens are living within your community, you can be sure, they will come handle the situation.
Doing this not only allows residents to ensure their neighborhoods are free from landlords who are harboring criminal illegal aliens in our community. The landlord could also be held for violating U.S. immigration laws.
There’s more to it.
If Jackson takes a hard stance and everyone does their part, the community would get the reputation as a ‘no go’ zone for criminal illegal aliens.
The township council and mayor need to take this one step further. At this time, it is unknown if the Jackson Police Department can work with federal law enforcement agencies to participate in illegal immigration activities.
Another change to the rental ordinance that needs to be made immediately is that rental agreements between the landlord and tenant should be required to be placed in the public record, just as our mortgages are. There should be financial and, in some cases, criminal penalties for landlords who habitually do not comply, as this is also a public safety issue.
That can be changed with the Jackson Council passing a resolution permitting local police officers to cooperate in local ICE enforcement operations.
This is how Jackson residents can take advantage of Mayor Kuhn’s new landlord registry ordinances and the Bureau of Housing Rentals to truly make a difference and eradicate illegal rentals once and for all, at the same time, ensuring our community is free of dangerous criminal illegal aliens hiding in the sanctuary state that has been created here in New Jersey.
Mayor Kuhn’s landlord registry is a model all communities in New Jersey should follow, but there is still more work to do to make it known to the worldthat Jackson Township is not a sanctuary city, and the people who are exploiting our laws to harbor criminal illegal aliens are now on notice.
