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vivian1212 · Sep 2, 2011, 07:32 AM

I currently have a small 3 bed, 1 bath house in which my step-mother and sister and brother-in-law reside. My niece (w/four school age children want to move into the last bedroom (11x9). What are the laws and regulations in nj regarding that # of people in one small bedroom.

excon · Sep 2, 2011, 07:41 AM

Hello v:

I have two answers for you... There very well MAY be restrictions on how many people can reside in a bedroom. In my view, those regulations were written by people who have LARGE comfortable homes, and were written in better times..

Now, you can keep looking, or you can just move her in. You can guess what I'd do.

excon

joypulv · Sep 2, 2011, 07:46 AM

Where is this, and what do you mean by 'have'? Do you own or rent?

(5 people in a room that size can be detrimental to the children's ability to succeed in school, especially when they get to be around 10 or so. It was common a hundred+ years ago, with all children in one bed spoon style.)

But we need an answer to the question to tell you any possible law.

J_9 · Sep 2, 2011, 07:47 AM

Originally Posted by joypulv

Where is this,

New Jersey.

tickle · Sep 2, 2011, 07:47 AM

Further to exxy's answer, I would have to wonder how you are going to manage all of those people and children in and out of just one bathroom. I would suggest they find other more comfortable accommodation, vivian, otherwise you are going to be a very stressed out landlord.

Tick

excon · Sep 2, 2011, 07:50 AM

Originally Posted by joypulv

(5 people in a room that size can be detrimental to the children's ability to succeed in school, especially when they get to be around 10 or so.

Hello joy:

Yeah, living in a room with FIVE people ain't good... But, neither is being on the street. Seems to me, that NOBODY would ask for those accommodations unless they desperately NEEDED them.

But, I'm guessing... Maybe she's just cheap.

excon

excon · Sep 2, 2011, 07:55 AM

Hello again, tick:

You shouldn't have deleted your first post. It was legally ACCURATE. I'M the one who's giving NON legal advice. Don't bother me none, though.

excon

joypulv · Sep 2, 2011, 07:55 AM

I hear you, but you know how often I get shot down here when I talk that way under LAW. You have tenure, con-con.

tickle · Sep 2, 2011, 08:00 AM

I did find this, but is only supported by an attorney's block in Google, but it does site building codes:

Under the IPMC, Section 404.4, a bedroom must measure at least 70 square feet for a single occupant. Additional occupants shall require an additional 50 square feet per person. The IPMC further states that occupants of one bedroom should not have to cross through another bedroom in order to access a bathroom (or to access their own bedroom). Under the regulations set forth by the IPMC, it would seem that there is really no limit to the number of adults that can occupy a 1 bedroom apartment, so long as that one bedroom is large enough to accommodate 70 square feet for the first occupant and 50 square feet for each occupant thereafter.

The regulations, however, become more complicated when children are introduced into the dwelling. The Division of Youth and Family Services has also promulgated regulations concerning children. Generally, children of opposite sex cannot share a bedroom with each other or an adult. Therefore, families with children will very often need to rent apartments with more bedrooms, even in cases when a single bedroom would have been large enough to accommodate the size of the family.

joypulv · Sep 2, 2011, 09:17 AM

OP hasn't been back to say whether she owns or rents (I missed that she is in NJ) but I'll assume she owns, since a landlord won't stand for this. I don't know of a NJ law concerning limits on people in a single family house, but many communities have local ordinances about related and unrelated occupants and how those are defined. DYS might get involved if someone reports it, but I know of no state that has no lower age limit on children of the same gender in one room. I've heard the age 8 in some HUD buildings.

tickle · Sep 2, 2011, 09:48 AM

Originally Posted by excon

Hello again, tick:

You shouldn't have deleted your first post. It was legally ACCURATE. I'M the one who's giving NON legal advice. Don't bother me none, though.

excon

I deleted my first post because the link I found did not show up on the website that I sited, and I didn't see a search tool within the site to access my information; that is why my second post reflected that information in a cut and paste.

Tick

tickle · Sep 2, 2011, 09:52 AM

Thread has generated three pages just between us all. Pretty good for the OP not even being back. We like talking to ourselves though it makes for happy AMHD members ::eek

Although I do hope she will be back to review our answers.

Tick

twinkiedooter · Sep 2, 2011, 10:08 AM

Lately I've found that in my county (Ohio)they are relaxing the density laws due to the economy and people having to double or triple up. Your county MAY be one of them. Why not call up and find out for sure? My county used to be very strict and would make the overage folks leave the home or the entire family move out. They relaxed these regulations here about 2 years ago. Now we don't even have such an animal as a density code enforcement person any longer.

vivian1212 · Sep 2, 2011, 02:09 PM

Let me add to my original question re: the # of kids in a small bedroom (original post by Vivian). This girl lived in this house prior to having any of these kids. She remained there for 11 years paying no rent to my step mother but supposedly taking care of her. She moved out at the beginning of this summer to an rv park so she could be on her own with her boy friend and kids. The local school board has now told her that she cannot send the kids to school from an rv park. Henceforth, she wants to move back in after she was told she couldn't coming back.

I own this house and allowed her to stay with her great-grandmother because she didn't get along with her mother.

excon · Sep 2, 2011, 02:17 PM

Hello again, v:

That's nice. But, from a legal perspective, it means nothing... I can't tell if you WANT her to move in, or you don't. Are you looking for reasons to deny her the room? Come on, you can tell us. We don't know you.

excon

tickle · Sep 2, 2011, 02:50 PM

viv, I already sited the reasons you can't in a previous post; other then that this is a personal issue, but I can't see how you all can fit in and use one bathroom. Here in my area, the reason for kids being in a certain district is a tax issue. So, like excon wrote, what is the issue?

tickle · Sep 2, 2011, 02:54 PM

Originally Posted by excon

Hello again, v:

That's nice. But, from a legal perspective, it means nothing... I can't tell if you WANT her to move in, or you don't. Are you looking for reasons to deny her the room? Come on, you can tell us. We don't know you.

excon

viv, adding to excon's superlative comment, I have already added my information from a legal perspective but you don't seem to want to acknowledge that, so this is a personal issue... and, asking a question again, what do you want us to say?