"A statement that neither the property or the individual applicant, or any entity that the individual applicant has been a member of, or an owner of, has had any prior violations of any Borough ordinance since January 1, 2022, and that there are no pending complaints awaiting a hearing."
That sentence comes from the application for a rental license in Point Pleasant Beach, in Chapter 13 of the Borough Code. The next line of the code says what happens if the statement can't be made: "the Construction Code Official shall not issue the license or permit."
The statement covers "the property" as well as the applicant. When an investor or second-home buyer under contract on a Point Pleasant Beach house plans to rent it, the borough's code brings the house's own record into the application, and that record goes back to the first day of 2022. A buyer closing this month takes on a compliance history that doesn't appear on any listing sheet. The timing makes it sharper, because the borough's rental calendar resets between now and February.
Rules written to slow a particular kind of rental
The borough doesn't hide the purpose. The code's short-term rental section says it "aims to curtail, and in certain circumstances prohibit" short-term renting of dwellings in residential neighborhoods to transient guests "without an owner living on-site to provide adequate oversight." Chapter 13 was rewritten in its entirety by Ordinance 2021-33 on Dec. 7, 2021.
NJ101.5 reported the case Paul Kanitra, mayor at the time, made for tighter rules. He said there were more than 120 Airbnbs in town in the summer of 2021, and that "a lot of these houses are advertised as 'sleeps 21. sleeps 23.'" He described the goal as closing "zoning loopholes."
Every mechanism below comes from that intent. A rental license in Point Pleasant Beach is something the borough can refuse, and a property's history is one of the reasons it can give.
What the application asks a new owner to certify
The look-back is one item on a longer form. Under §13-8 of the code, an applicant must provide:
- A statement of no prior license revocations or suspensions and no pending complaints awaiting a hearing
- The no-violations statement covering the property, the applicant and related entities since Jan. 1, 2022
- A statement that the property doesn't violate the borough's Zoning Ordinance
- The name and address of an agent who lives in the borough or has an office there and is authorized to accept service of notices for the owner
- A drawing of the approved driveway and all legal parking spaces, with the yards marked by permanent markers. The drawing must say that parking on the lawns isn't allowed, must be posted in the unit, and must be given to every tenant at the start of each rental
- A certificate of liability insurance
- A driver's license number and the state that issued it
Before any license is issued or renewed, the applicant must also comply with the borough's rule requiring real estate taxes to be paid first.
Several of these items describe the house, not the owner. Zoning compliance, the driveway, and the legal parking count all stay with the property through a sale. A buyer who wants to rent the house will be signing statements about it, so the buyer needs to know those statements are true.
How long approval takes, and where a denial goes
The schedule can matter as much as the rule, especially for a buyer who has summer bookings in mind. Once an application and fees are filed, the Code Enforcement Officer has 20 business days to approve or disapprove it. After approval, the Construction Official inspects the unit within 30 days. Owners must schedule and complete that inspection within 60 days of being notified that the application was approved, or the license is denied.
A disapproved applicant has 10 days to appeal, and an appeal of a license denial goes to the municipal court. There's no appeal to a board or office inside the borough's administration.
The fee for a license or a renewal is $300 per unit. A reinspection, or missing a scheduled inspection, costs $50.
The calendar that resets this winter
This post appears in early November, when Point Pleasant Beach's off-season short-term rental rules are in force. The code defines a short-term rental as any rental of less than one month. It prohibits stays shorter than one week from May 15 through Sept. 30 and stays shorter than one month for the rest of the year. The minimums don't apply when the owner lives in one of the units of a multiunit dwelling for the whole time the short-term rental runs.
For a buyer closing in the next few months, these are the dates that matter:
| Date | What the code sets |
|---|---|
| Now through May 14, 2027 | One-month minimum stay for short-term rentals |
| Dec. 31, 2026 | Seasonal licenses issued in 2026 expire |
| Before Feb. 1, 2027 | Certificate of insurance due for each rental owner |
| May 15, 2027 | One-week minimum stay begins |
| Sept. 30, 2027 | Last day of the one-week minimum period |
The insurance requirement is in §13-28. Rental owners must carry liability coverage of at least $500,000 for combined property damage and bodily injury. Owners of a home with four or fewer units, one of them owner-occupied, need at least $300,000. Carrying the coverage is a condition of the license. The certificate is filed with the borough's Bureau of Fire Safety or another designated office. The $50 registration fee is waived for owners in compliance with rental licensing. If the certificate or fee is more than 10 days late, the borough may bring an action for a fine of $500 to $5,000.
This means a house bought in November or December comes with a license that expires within weeks, an insurance filing due right after the new year, and a new application on which the buyer, now the owner, certifies the property's record since 2022.
What keeps a license in force once it's issued
The look-back sets the conditions for getting a license. Keeping it depends on what happens after the owner takes over, and several provisions can end a license partway through a year. Ordinance 2025-29, adopted Dec. 9, 2025, includes the current versions:
- Tenant changes. When tenants change, the licensee must file the new tenants' names and permanent addresses. If the list isn't filed within two business days after the tenancy starts, "all licenses" expire and must be renewed through a new application. The codified text also says a license expires on Dec. 31 "or until a change in tenant occupancy occurs, whichever occurs first."
- Cited violations. If an inspection finds violations that aren't corrected within 10 days of notice, the rental permit is revoked and the premises must be vacated. The Construction Official may allow more time when that's reasonable.
- Tenant complaints. A license may be suspended or revoked when two complaints about tenants or occupants in one licensing year end in municipal court convictions. The code has an exception for complaints the owner files.
- Convictions under Chapter 13. After a conviction, an owner may be denied permits and licenses for every rental property in which any of the owners or their principals has an interest, for two years.
- Real estate professionals. An agent, broker or other real estate professional who assists in a prohibited rental may be barred from applying for or receiving any rental permit or license for two years from the conviction.
The fourth item feeds back into the look-back. A violation recorded at a house in 2026 shows up in the property's history when the next owner applies. The house's record and the owner's record are tracked together, and a sale moves the first to a new owner.
What changed in December 2025
Ordinance 2025-29 was presented to the council as mostly technical. At the Nov. 12, 2025 meeting, the council heard that it updated the International Property Maintenance Code reference, which is revised every three years. It also replaced "rental CO" with "rental permit" following state Department of Community Affairs guidance, kept Dec. 31 as the expiration date for seasonal licenses, set annual licenses to run three years, required only the occupants law enforcement should contact to be listed, and reduced reinspection fees. The council introduced it on first reading by a unanimous vote at its Nov. 25, 2025 meeting. The same ordinance expanded the commercial construction blackout to cover all of Labor Day weekend and every Saturday from July 1 through Labor Day. A buyer planning renovations before the first summer season should build that into the schedule.
A few direct questions
Does a year-round lease work differently from a seasonal rental? Yes. Under the code, all rentals are inspected once a year when the owner applies, and rentals of a year or more are also inspected when occupancy changes. The Construction Official may waive the inspection for 12-month rentals for up to three years. Annual licenses expire three years from issuance, and seasonal licenses expire Dec. 31.
Can a winter tenant stay for three weeks? Not under the current code. From Oct. 1 through May 14, any short-term rental must last at least one month. The exception is a multiunit dwelling where the owner lives in one of the units for the whole stay.
Where does an owner apply? Applications go to the Construction Department at the Municipal Building, along with the full fees. The borough's Rental Properties page is its official starting point.
This post is general information about the borough's published code, not legal, tax or insurance advice. Before acting, confirm how these provisions apply to a specific property with the Construction Department and your own attorney.
For a buyer, the questions about a Point Pleasant Beach rental house's record since 2022 are best answered before signing, while the seller can still answer them. Clayton & Clayton represents rental buyers in Point Pleasant Beach and manages seasonal rentals there, and we can help you plan those questions and the licensing timeline for a closing this winter. Schedule a confidential consultation.
