SBU Official: Illegal Off-Campus Rental Listings Dramatically Down

In the fight against the problem of illegal boarding houses, one simple step taken by Stony Brook University officials has paid off big-time.

Landlords listing available rentals must now prove their housing is legal by showing their permits – a step which Elaine Crosson, vice president for external relations at SBU, said has led to a decrease of more than 70 percent in the number of rental listings on the school’s off-campus housing website.

Crosson delivered the news on Wednesday during a meeting of the Stony Brook Concerned Homeowners.

“Before we met with this organization, I think we didn’t do much background checks of who was listing properties,” she said. “Since April, we’ve started to require anyone who wants to list a property has to show us that they have a legal permit to have a rental property. … Just that one step I think has made a big difference in terms of what we’re making available to our students through the website.”

At the same meeting, one guest shared a tragic story of her family’s experience with illegal off-campus housing. Maryanne Fitzsimons of Commack lost her daughter Kerry to a fire in an illegal boarding house near Marist College in January of 2012.

Since March, when the Stony Brook Concerned Homeowners organization was formed, the Town of Brookhaven has stepped up its fight against illegal boarding houses that have popped up over the last few years in the Three Village community.

"What these landlords have been doing to this community is scurrilous," Town Supervisor Ed Romaine told the organization. "They have destroyed the quality of life for too many families for too long. I made it clear to my staff that we would do everything in our power in this town to reverse the tide of illegal rooming houses ... to break the business model."

Crosson said the university is “fully supportive” of the town’s efforts to strengthen and clarify its housing codes.