You may have recently seen either an ad or story in another publication about Air B&B offering homeowners a nice $750 simply for listing your home on the app for possible rental during the World Cup Final, slated to be played over the summer at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford
In some towns listed, that’s fine.
But in Kearny, which was improperly included on that list as a town where the fee would be paid for such a rental, you better think again before getting into a contract with Air B&B — and that’s because the Town of Kearny has laws on the books expressly banning homeowners here from sub-letting any kind of residential property for the short term.
And if you decide to go ahead and sub-let anyway?
That $750 signing bonus you may get will be the equivalent of just one day’s fine when you’re caught.
That $750 per day is in effect for up to 10 days of an improperly let apartment. After that, the daily fine spikes to potential $2,000-per-day fines. Egregious violators are also subject to 30 days of incarceration in the Hudson County Jail.
Some background.
The Town of Kearny first banned such short-term rentals in 2017 — but at the time, only one-family homes fell under the law (ordinance.) But because of the already-challenging parking situation in Kearny, and an increase in population, Mayor Carol Jean Doyle and the Town Council recently adopted an ordinance expanding the previous law to include banning all residential properties in the town from short-term sub-letting.
And it’s hardly just a parking issue that led led to the 2017 law and the 2026 expansion.
Residents have, from time to time, complained about large parties, unknown people in their neighborhood and excessive amounts of vehicles associated with these types of rentals. In fact, in at least one case, and entire two-family house was rented for a weekend — and with it, a tour bus was parked at the curb, running overnight and taking up three parking spaces.
Another instance included a three-family home being sub-let to three families with two cars per family, no driveway, this taking six spots in a densely populated street, leaving residents to scramble to find parking, in some cases, blocks away.
Now do police or code-enforcement officers go around looking to find violators? That would be next to impossible. But residents may easily notify the Kearny Police, Fire and Construction Code offices by telephone. You may also send emails to those departments of click on the “See, Click, Fix” portal on www.kearnynj.org to send a complaint.
Learn more about the writer ...
Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.