Brigantine Battles Unruly Short-Term Rentals and Party Houses

Mayor Sera of Brigantine addresses recent gun fight at a notorious short-term rental property.

North-end neighbors losing faith in Brigantine’s ability to manage nuisance properties.

Can Brigantine tame these unruly, short-term rentals? Watch the Brigantine City Council meeting of Feb. 3, 2021.

One such party house is a short-term rental on North 13th street. A gun fight broke out there recently.


PUBLIC COMMENT: Strippers, public urination, speak-easy, cover-charge parties. $100 a head. Even music video productions at this location?

The Brigantine Rental Listing on VRBO: https://www.vrbo.com/287944

Across from Pirates Den. Even closer to a row of condos right next door. Those owners are afraid and angry.

One-night stays. Is that still OK in Brigantine? Just inviting trouble. Most believe a 3 or 7 night minimum should be mandatory to protect quality of life in Brigantine.

Brigantine Rental Property Ordinance

https://ecode360.com/35396874

PUBLIC COMMENT: People are urinating everywhere. Large parties ignoring Covid threat. People parking everywhere. Many New York license plates.

PUBLIC COMMENT: Late night noise violations. Parties with security guards. DJ entertainment with cover charge. Most recently home to a music video production.

Plenty of violations. 60 pages worth for this 13th St property.

Get on the ground, put your hands on your heads. People screaming and yelling back at the police. Guns drawn. Shots fired. Our piece of paradise has become a warzone.

Paul Lettieri is the Brigantine’s 2nd Ward Councilman. He lives near the nuisance house. Letierri has video and pictures. He called 911 at 1:30 in the morning when five shots rang out.

Councilman Lettieri is fed up. Absolutely unacceptable. Why are we letting it continue to be a rental property?

Brigantine Party House

Why are they allowed to rent out single nights?

PUBLIC COMMENT: Something bad is going to happen. Gunfire and two people shot on this 13th st property. How can we get this property under control? Should we ban short term rentals that cater to one-night only rentals?

Brigantine Mayor, Vince Sera says City is looking at a number of options. Deputy Mayor Karen Bew and the Brigantine Planning Board reviewing a number of ordinances and zoning laws. Sera says they will come up with some solutions. We’re in the process.

Lettieri watched as liquor and bags of ice were delivered into that property… just days after the shooting.

We’re talking about it… but nothings being done, says the 2nd Ward Councilman.

Brigantine police responded beautifully. But I’m fed up. I live there. They (party house attendees) piss on the streets, on my pavements, on my neighbors’ cars. We clean their trash. Their bottles and liquor.

Councilman Paul Lettieri

I’m not going to sit on my hands any longer. Either do something about it, and do it quick or Councilman Lettieri is going to take it to the highest level he can.

Mayor Vince Sera says he understands the frustration.  

Brigantine Rental ( as of Feb 19, 2021 )

From VRBO https://www.vrbo.com/287944

4 Bedrooms, 6 Baths, (Sleeps 10) 6 queen size beds

EXTRA FEES – $250 – indoor pool/spa heat

$300 – pet fee

$200 – early check in by 12pm or late check out by 4pm (if is it available)

PARKING – Street parking is free – please read the signs. Make note that it is a one way street. Police will ticket you if you are parked on the wrong side. There is also parking space in the driveway.

RECORDING DEVICES – No need to be worried!! Before discussing the devices I want guests to know that I want everyone to have a great time, use the house as you like, and want to respect your privacy. With that said the reason for the cameras and decibel meters is that I am stepping up precautions to limit the number of guests in the home, prevent parties, and keep noise under control. All devices are running 24/7. If any of these devices capture you or your fellow guests breaking house rules, you will be subject to the fines in the rental agreement that must be signed. If there is content captured showing disobedience of the rules, it will be sent in to the site you booked the reservation on holding you accountable and holding you to fines. You also may be asked to leave the property with no refund in certain circumstances. See more below. Like mentioned, recording devices are meant for the sole purpose of keeping the house, neighborhood, and guests safe. We do not want any form of party in the house and will not tolerate inappropriate behavior.

There are 2 outdoor cameras that record both voice and video. One is on the front door and the other is on the 3rd floor deck. There are 3 decibel meters that record sound levels. One indoors – in the living room. Two are outdoors. One is on the ceiling of the front door overhang. The second is on the 3rd floor deck on one of the walls. Please reach out to the host if you have any questions or concerns. There are indoor cameras throughout the home that are no longer in use (just have not had them removed). See more detail below. If any recording device is covered, tampered with, etc you will be fined $1,000.00.

As of 11/24/20, booking 1 night stays will require a $1,000.00 additional security deposit which would be requested through the resolution center. As long as the guest does not break any house rules below, the $1,000.00 will be sent back to the guest within 24 hours of check out. This extra deposit is in place to en-sure that 1 night stays are being respectful to our home and neighborhood. Host will unilaterally decide if this deposit is refunded in full or not after a thorough inspection of the home upon check out.

HOUSE RULES – you must sign a rental contract holding you accountable for the following rules before entering the listing. Host will send you the contract by email.

NO PARTY POLICY –

1. Absolutely NO PARTIES allowed. If it is found advertised on social media that there is a party, footage from outdoor cameras showing more than 10 people coming into the home, or police reporting a party $3,000 will be taken from the security deposit and you will be asked to leave the property immediately with no re-imbursement for the stay. We have a 0 tolerance policy for any type of party.

NUMBER OF GUESTS POLICY –

1. 10 guests are permitted into the listing per booking.

CHECK OUT POLICY –

1. If guest checks out after 11am a charge of $300 will be added to the final bill. You must fully be off the property by 11am. If you are still in the driveway the outdoor camera will capture video/pictures documenting you at the home past 11am and that content will be sent to airbnb charging you the fee. Unless you paid for late check out then you will have permission to stay until the designated check out time. If guest checks in any time before 4pm without permission for an earlier time from the host, a charge of $300 will be added to the final bill. Unless you paid for early check in.

NOISE POLICY –

1. Noise must be kept to a normal speaking level while inside and outside the home (no yelling or loud music). Like mentioned above the decibel meters throughout the home measure the volume of sound (no recordings). Host will get a notification on her cell if the noise goes above the practical level determined by the NoiseAware app. You will be notified once with a screen shot from the app and asked to quiet down. A second warning will be issued the same. A third notification will prompt the security company to be dispatched to the home and you will be asked to leave with no refund for your stay.

2. If one of the 3 decibel meters are unplugged or tampered with there will be a fine of $1,000.00

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8 thoughts on “Brigantine Battles Unruly Short-Term Rentals and Party Houses”

  1. I live in Florida now but still own a home in Brigantine for the summer. We have the same problem with mega mansion vacation rentals in our town in Florida and the same kind of craziness. Actually it’s a national problem. It’s a controversy between personal property rights of individuals, and the rights of the rest of humanity. But, forget that, it’s the new Corporate mega company with 2 or three houses per block, having hundreds per town. That Is a commercial business. The new argument becomes the right of corporations to have two or three mega mansions in every block which basically becames commercial property mixed with residential . So, if in a residential neighborhood , all the sudden now 25% of every home becomes a commercial property ;a little mini hotel that totally devaluates the individual residential properties in the neighborhood. Little guy should win, it’s his life works for. Mini hotels belong at Interstate intersections and major roads near towns. Not in residential Neighborhoods. Here’s the catch only 25% have gotten this far, If corporate and residential was so intermixed to do with the same how could a town tech them differently? They could merely tax the property is very differently,Brigantine could expand its “A” zone further to the north end and maybe even the golf course area. A good lesson on this issue is Monroe County Florida and you can go online and see their Ordinances on rental properties and interestingly a minimum of a 28 day rental. The Florida keys in the winner is beautiful as Brigantine is in the summer, but without the drama of the unwanted. There are ways to get the attention of the web rental companies; ie vrbo, AirBnb, tax them and regulate them. This one wild housr is only the Beginning of the aforementioned essay. Have a great day

  2. Rental restrictions are unfortunately needed
    in residential neighborhoods on commercialized rental houses that sleep more then 6 people …

    *Weekly rentals / Minimum 7 days
    From Saturday to Saturday
    1st Saturday of May through the last
    Saturday of October.
    (26 rental weeks with a max of 26 rentals)

    *3month rental/ Minimum 90 days
    From November through April
    ( 26 rental weeks with a max of 2 rentals )

    All listed and marketed rental property and tenant info should be on file and all tenants should be held accountable for there actions. If owners do not follow the proper rental guidelines they should be held accountable for there tenants actions with fines and a 1 ,2, 3 strike your out policy ….
    These rental restrictions should not be subjected to the property owner and there family and friends using the property .

    1. nailed it. while this house in question is a huge problem, this kind of planning will make for better peace of mind. It’s overhead and additional paperwork, but the ordinances are not up to the times with “just in time” rentals and on line platforms. These types of quasi commercial houses should have the right insurance, inspections, licensing etc. Not trying to keep anyone from making money- but you need to do it the right way.

  3. After this past year of covid many home owners of brigantine have lost money.. esp considering cases are extremely low across the board, the residents should have the right to rent their houses. Otherwise perhaps the county would like to waive property taxes.

    1. “Losing money” should lead to taking a tax loss which isn’t really losing money (assuming one actually files taxes and claims all sources of income but then again this Brig we are talking about)

  4. They are ruining Brigantine allowing these party house to continue.

    It’s so very sad and should be shut down immediately.

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