Boro fines homeowner after fire in So. River
Accused of running an illegal rooming house on Main St.
BY MICHAEL ACKER
Staff Writer

SOUTH RIVER - The owner of a borough home destroyed in an April fire has been fined $18,200 for fire code violations.

Borough Fire Marshal Julia Hughes said the fire at 146 Main St. was caused by an air-conditioning unit that was placed on top of an extension cord. The weight of the machine caused an electric short, Hughes said.

An investigation following the fire revealed that there had been illegal housing conditions, with at least nine tenants living in a single-family housing unit. None of the tenants was harmed in the fire.

The borough's Fire Prevention Office fined homeowner Beatriz Perez $18,200 for a total of 10 New Jersey fire code violations on her property, Hughes said.

Perez waited until the construction office issued her a certificate of occupancy and the fire prevention office inspected the smoke detectors before converting her single-family home into a rooming house, according to Hughes.

"We believe that she changed the use of the single-family home to a rooming house," Hughes said. "She put up walls and she didn't get permits."

To run a rooming house, the owner would be required to provide exit signs and exit lighting for tenants. Perez did not make those provisions, Hughes said.

Perez is also accused of hindering the investigation by saying that she resided at the residence, though she did not.

"The woman said that she lived there," Hughes said. "When someone misleads you, [you] are wasting all of that time in the investigation trying to put pieces of the puzzle together, and they're not fitting."

Borough Council President David Sliker said that the municipality has a clear stance on the issue of illegal housing.

"We do not stand for, nor tolerate, anybody turning a single-family home into a rooming house," he said.

Sliker said he would like to see Perez pay for expenses that the borough has incurred from this incident.

"I will make a proposal that in this instance, the homeowner or landowner be charged with all of the expenses that the borough incurred in this. The fines, I don't think, are stiff enough or harsh enough," Sliker said.

He said he believes that in this case "there was a large number of individuals [in the house] that could have been hurt."

While Hughes said that the number of tenants who lived in the house is still being confirmed, Borough Code Enforcement Officer Steve Behar has said that there were likely nine people living in the home.

Hughes noted that this problem is not unique to South River.

"This is happening everywhere," she said. "It is all over the place. People buy homes and rent them out. And whether or not they know what is going on when they rent them, I can't say."

"What is terrible is the way people are living," Hughes added. "They know that it's wrong to live in one room, but they are going to go there, because they need some place to live. They pay a lot. . .hundreds and hundreds of dollars."

Perez has a municipal court hearing scheduled for June 26.

As the borough looks to crack down on housing violations, Hughes said Behar will enforce property maintenance codes, while Housing Official Dave Wroblewski will enforce construction code issues. With their help, the fire prevention office can better address the issues that it has confronted in the borough for years, Hughes said.

"It's not for money," she said. "It's to keep the town safe."