Montauk Homeowner Rented House 55x In 9 Months: Town

EAST HAMPTON, NY — East Hampton Town officials have cracked down on the property owners of a Montauk residence they say was used as a short-term rental at least 55 times in nine months.

According to East Hampton town officials, the Montauk property owner was issued tickets for renting the home and other structures during the time period from May, 2021 to early 2022.

Rental records from Airbnb obtained by East Hampton Town through a subpoena showed that the residential property at 64 S. Elroy Street in Montauk was rented at least the 55 times with rents paid totaling more than $100,000, East Hampton town officials said.

East Hampton Town code regarding the rental of residences allows a maximum of only two
short-term rentals of less than two weeks within a six-month period, town officials said.

After a three-month joint investigation conducted by the East Hampton Town attorney's office
and the East Hampton Town ordinance enforcement department, a total of 57 field appearance
tickets were issued to defendants Harvey Elgart and 64 S. Elroy LLC, regarding accusations of violating the town’s rental registry laws, East Hampton Town officials said.

Town law requires rental properties, including seasonal rentals, to be registered on the town
rental registry maintained by the building department and issued a rental registration number; the rental registry number must be included in any rental advertising. Regular renewals and
updates to the rental registration information are required, the town said.

The defendants are scheduled to be arraigned in East Hampton Town Justice Court on August 1, town officials sad. If convicted the defendants face a maximum potential sentence under the town code of more than $200,000 in fines and/or a period of incarceration, town officials said.

“Our East Hampton town codes are designed to protect property owners and residents from the
impacts resulting from the misuse of residential properties, such as turning a residence into a
money-making, commercial venture,” East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said.
“The transformation of single-family houses into heavy turnover rentals advertised on Airbnb
and other sites has had a noticeable negative impact on the character of our neighborhoods and
community. The town will continue to pursue legal action against those who disregard our
regulations and community values.”

In addition to a restriction on short-term rentals, the town code does not allow “share houses,” or the sale of rights to occupancy of a house during particular time periods. Rental of one or two
guest rooms is allowed if a property owner resides on site, town officials said.

Larry Kelly, attorney for Elgart, spoke with Patch and said he filed a notice of claim Friday; the notice of claim states that the subpoena the town used was "illegal," and that the town attorney had "no right to subpoena business records in California."

The proper procedure, he maintained, would be to make an application in California to have the California court respect a New York court order but in this case, a "ghost index number" was put on the subpoena "without a caption . . .The subpoena was not part of an ongoing criminal proceeding and the town attorney had no right to obtain those records," Kelly said.

Kelly also said the property had two legal cottages and he believed the term "cottages" was not included in the registry law; also, if the property owner occupied one of the buildings the cottages could be rented without registering the property, he said.

Kelly said he had tried to resolve the matter with the town.

East Hampton Town officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Kelly's statements.