Howell Tightens Controls On Real Estate Soliciting

HOWELL.N.J.— The Township Council has adopted new rules to regulate soliciting for real estate sales.

Among them is that the soliciting is restricted to the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Real estate soliciting is prohibited on all Saturdays and Sundays and all federal and state holidays. Anyone not following the new rules can be fined $500 per offense. And there is a bigger fine for those who solicit residents who are on the township's do-not-knock registry.

Canvassing or soliciting is considered door-to-door soliciting or soliciting by the use of "circulars that have not been sent through the U.S. Postal Service, visitations, or any other means, where the canvasser or his or her employer has not been invited or requested by the owner to obtain a listing of real property or to confer with the owner regarding a real estate transaction," according to the ordinance adapted earlier this month.

Anyone soliciting real estate sales must provide advanced written notice to the Township Clerk, including who is doing the canvassing and a listing of the street or streets where the soliciting will take place. It also must include the starting and ending dates.

The notice must be filed with the Township Clerk no less than 14 business days prior to the scheduled start date.

If a permit is issued, it is valid for a period not to exceed 30 days from the date of issuance, according to the ordinance.

Other elements of the ordinance include:

• No more than three permits may be issued simultaneously for the same streets, neighborhoods, or geographic areas.
• No residence may be canvassed or solicited more than once during the period covered by the permit, unless the property owner invites or consents to the solicitation.
• No street, neighborhood, or geographic area may be recanvassed or resolicited until six months have elapsed from the expiration of a previously issued permit.

A permit application may be rejected, suspended, or temporarily or permanently revoked on any of the following grounds:

• Negligent or intentional misrepresentations in the application.
• Violations of this article or any other provision of the Township Code, or any state or federal law or regulation.
• Criminal, illegal, fraudulent, or unethical conduct by the applicant.
• Annoying, harassing, intimidating, or bullying conduct.
• Discriminatory conduct prohibited pursuant to any state or federal law or regulation.

The resolution continues that permits may be applied for and issued only to individual persons. No more than one employee, representative, or agent of an institution may be issued a permit covering the same time period and geographic area.

The ordinance also outlines rules regarding discriminatory practices barring reference to race, color, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or religious affiliation of neighbors, prospective buyers or other occupants or prospective occupants of real property.

A solicitation can't represent that the "presence or anticipated presence of persons of any particular race, religion, or national origin in the area has resulted or may result in lowering of property values, or a change in the racial, religious, or ethnic composition of the neighborhood, or suggest an increase in "criminal or antisocial behavior in the area" or a decline in the quality of schools.

The ordinance bars soliciting any owner whose name and property address is included on the "Do Not Knock" registry maintained by the Township Clerk.

Residents who feel they have been solicited improperly can file a complaint directly with the Police Department, or with the Township Clerk, who shall forward the complaint to the Police Department for investigation, according to the ordinance.

Any person convicted of impermissibly canvassing or soliciting a property owner enrolled in the Township’s do-not-knock registry is subject to a maximum fine of $1,250 per offense, and for residents not in the registry, violating the new rules could carry a fine not to exceed $500 per offense.

This ordinance does not apply to real estate that is publicly advertised for sale or to “open houses,” sponsored by the owner or listed real estate agent for a specific home on a specific day.