The Township of Vernon has contracted with Host Compliance/Granicus, a firm that specializes in finding operators that advertise short term stays on various hotel reservation websites. The firm gathers publicly available detailed rental and location data from many hotel reservation websites on the internet, then synthesizes the information and matches it to the owner of the property using global positioning longitude and latitude coordinates with pictures when appropriate.

The properties of unregistered, short term rental (STR) operators who advertised on AirBnB, VRBO/Home Away, Evolve etc. reservation site(s) have been identified and must now be registered with the township and inspected.

Prior to the short term rental ordinance (Ordinance #20-09) being passed, the Vernon Township Council passed Ordinance #20-05, Ordinance #20-07 and then Ordinance #21-33 which allow for the collection of a 3% tax for all income derived from a property advertised for rent. This 3% tax goes back to March 30, 2020 for all rentals of said property.

Compliance Steps:

• Register your property and pay a registration fee of $350.00.
  Your registration fee includes two annual inspections by the Vernon Township Fire Marshal which are required for rental properties under New Jersey state law. Your rental property will not be considered legal until it is registered and inspected by the fire marshal. In addition, the property wil also be checked for outstanding taxes, sewer payments and building permits and inspections. Anything that is outstanding will prevent your registration from being completed and you will not be inspected. Once it is inspected, you will receive a Vernon Township registration decal that must be displayed from inside the dwelling so that it can be seen from the street.
• Pay the 3% Transient Accommodation Occupancy Tax.
  This tax, payable to Vernon Township, is also charged to hotel guests throughout the state of New Jersey. It is essential that you stay current with the tax otherwise your registration can be suspended and the websites you use for advertising your property for rent will be notified of your suspension.
  
  If you rent your property through Airbnb, VRBO (aka Home Away) or Evolve, you will not have to pay the 3% tax directly to Vernon Township. These platforms are collecting it from you and sending it to the State of New Jersey, who then sends it to Vernon. If you rent with any other platform, you MUST pay the 3% to Vernon by using Stripe, which is the company that you pay for your registration fee.

It is our hope that property owners will be in compliance with the Vernon Township ordinances as soon as possible and remain that way. The township does not want to be forced to take legal action for failure to comply. Fines for non-compliance range from $250 to $500 per violation, per day. If you have any questions, please contact the Vernon Township Administrator, at 973.764.4055, ext. 2275.

Residents who believe a neighboring property is not in compliance with Vernon’s short term rental ordinance may call 973.240.5626 to report suspected violations.