What to Know
- Commercial solicitors in the town have to get a permit to go into residential areas
- Homeowners can opt out of any contact by signing up on a registry
- A Rockland County legislator is introducing a bill that would make the no-knock policy countywide.
Officials in Rockland County are looking to crack down on a widespread practice in Rockland County of realtors going door to door to pressure people to sell their homes.
Cellphone video obtained by the I-Team shows residents are exasperated with the practice, including one irate Chestnut Ridge resident who lets loose on two realtors who come to her door and chases them away.
Door-to-door soliciting by realtors is not illegal in Chestnut Ridge, but a grassroots organization is trying to pass a so-called no-knock ordinance that already exists in neighboring Orangetown.
Orangetown Supervisor Andy Stewart told the I-Team that commercial solicitors there have to get a permit to go into residential areas and that homeowners can opt out of any contact by signing up on a registry.
Sue Collins, of Pearl River, was one of the first to register. She said she is upset by what she called "blockbusting" techniques by members of the ultra-Orthodox community.
"I think it is unfair to force people out of the community to take over the community," she said.
Local
Rockland County Legislator Laurie Santulli, a Republican, is introducing a bill that would make the no-knock policy countywide. Santulli's plan would automatically exclude Rockland residents from any commercial contact.
Rather than opting out, they would opt in if they wanted door-to-door solicitors, she said.
Several New Jersey counties have also adopted so-called no-knock ordinances, including Montvale, Jackson and Toms River.
