Babylon Town seeks to bolster fines on scofflaw real estate agents

Babylon Town, in an effort to crack down on illegal housing, is proposing increasing fines to real estate agents who list and show rental housing without a town permit.

The town will have a public hearing on the proposal at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Town Hall.

The town currently levies first-offense fines ranging from $500 to $1,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 15 days. The proposed change to the legislation would increase first-offense fines so they range from $2,500 to $5,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 15 days.

The town also fines owners and tenants for illegal housing, but those fines are less: $500 to $1,000 for a first offense. Babylon Town Attorney Joe Wilson said the town would only be raising the real estate agent fines.

“Real estate agents are licensed professionals and they should be held to a higher standard,” Wilson said. “They should know better; this is what they do for a living.”

Wilson said the town is also concerned that such rentals may be unsafe. He said the town is hoping the increased fines will eliminate them as a “cost of doing business” and push agents to avoid illegal rentals.

“Maybe on a given rental they might be making one month’s rent and that could be $3,000, $4,000,” Wilson said. “If they get fined $500, where is the disincentive there?”

According to town spokesman Ryan Bonner, the town issued about 20 tickets to real estate agents last year for listing and showing illegal rentals. Bonner said “way more than that” were issued to owners and tenants, but he could not provide a specific amount Tuesday.

Doreen Spagnuolo, CEO of the Long Island Board of Realtors, said in a statement to Newsday that the West Babylon-based trade association is “committed to educating our members on their responsibilities and the legal requirements surrounding rental listings” and that they “encourage all real estate professionals to conduct due diligence to ensure they are in full compliance with municipal permitting requirements.”

Justin Galbraith, owner of Rental King LI, based in Bay Shore, said the fine increase will likely be a motivator to eschew illegal rentals.

“I don’t think anyone wants to pay anything extra today; it’s pretty tight out there,” he said, adding that landlords looking for agents will also take heed.

But Galbraith said tackling illegal rentals has to start at the top with municipalities.

“It’s caused by the taxes,” he said. “It didn’t start because people just want to make extra money. People needed to survive. They can’t afford their house because they can’t afford the taxes.”

Ian Wilder, executive director of Long Island Housing Services Inc., a fair-housing nonprofit in Bohemia, said the increased fines don’t address the larger systemic problem of the affordable housing crisis.

“Yes, it’s good to make sure people are not in unsafe housing,” he said. “But it’s not going to solve the problem by getting rid of the middleman for that housing. You’ll still have a market that’s demanding that housing because people do not have affordable places to live.”

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.