NJ Short Term Rental Property Management Advice

[Cody Z.]

Hi All,

Posting a link to a previous thread that I started regarding the NJ requirement to be a Real Estate Broker to manage short term rentals. My girlfriend is currently in school to become an agent and she was told that she must be a Broker to manage any rental property versus a licensed salesperson. This seems a little absurd as it took me one year of oversight to be eligible for a license as a CPA :-) and a broker needs three years of oversight as a salesperson.

Can someone please give some legal insight on to what they're seeing in the NJ market for this because I am positive that people are not providing license numbers to be super hosts on these platforms.

Link to previous thread: 

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/530/topics/739844-need-advice-on-serving-as-short-term-rental-property-manager-nj?page=1#p4352739

Your help is greatly appreciated,

Cody

[Mike Bonadies]

@Cody Z. The quick answer is to be a property manager in NJ you must have/do one of two things:

1.Operate under a brokers license 

or

2. Have an equitable interest in the property (it can be as little as 1%)

If you do not have either one or the other then that person/company cannot be a property manager in NJ.

Now where it gets tricky is with short term rentals. Many short term rentals are in shore towns, many of which have local ordinances that change parts of the state law. Many shore towns are currently going through the process of identifying what AirBnBs/Short term rentals are. Some started classifying it as a hotel/motel and require their operators to get their respective licence in-order to operate as a short term rental. Other towns don't have any way to enforce a rule so they allow them to operate. Its further complicated by what entity the property belongs to. If it is in the name of an individual or an LLC. Is it a second home which then complicates the laws even more? There are still quite a few unanswered questions which makes it tricky for rental investors doing short term rentals at the shore.

@Keven Vanegas is a property manager out of Atlantic City and I believe he may be able to help provide a bit more color.