What may seem like a simple knock on the door is causing outrage in parts of Rockland County. Real estate agents are showing up on residents’ doors and asking them to sell their homes. Sarah Wallace reports.
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.
