Woodbridge Property Owner Operated Illegal Rooming House, Officials Say

A Woodbridge property owner has been fined $5,000 for operating an illegal rooming house in town, officials said.

The township’s “Quality-of-Life” Code Enforcement Task Force Inspection Program targets illegal multi-family residential boarding home/apartments, property maintenance violations, and the illegal posting of advertising signs, according to a news release from the township.

That work of employees in that program led to the $5,000 fine against owner of a Metuchen Avenue property, the news release said.

“Illegal and overcrowded housing, property maintenance violations, and violations of the Township advertising sign ordinance(s) are the most significant issues that impact “Quality-of-Life for Township residents,” Mayor John E. McCormac said in a prepared statement. “Recent inspections by the Code Enforcement Task Force have uncovered violations that include illegal rooming/boarding houses and multi-family dwellings, accumulated trash and debris that severely impact the health and welfare of the neighborhood, potentially dangerous building code violations, residential properties being used for commercial purposes, and numerous violations for the illegal posting of advertising signs and placards.”

SEE RELATED STORY: List Of Fines For Illegal Boarding, Multi-Family Homes In Woodbridge

According to a township news release:

On July 8, the Woodbridge Township Bureau of Housing and Inspection responded to a complaint about Luis Conteras, who owned a residential property at 164 Metuchen Avenue.

The complaint alleged he was renting rooms in the basement and second-floor of the home for $465 a month. That day, inspectors determined that at least two renters were living there and the township had to temporarily relocate one of them, because of the illegal rental.

Officials continued their inspection and “uncovered clear evidence of single-room occupancy as opposed to use of the home as a traditional single-family residential property.”

Conteras was issued notices of violation, and on Friday, he appeared in Woodbridge Municipal Court.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of operating a non-permitted illegal multi-family residential property; the judge ordered him to pay a $5,000 fine, correct the illegal conditions and submit to a re-inspection.