Fire Prevention
In the process of selling one home and buying another I’ve been learning a lot about town, county and state laws. I learned about a new one today that strikes me particularly funny and absurd. In June of 1991, a NJ state law was passed that requires all homes be equipped with smoke alarms. An application must be made to your local Fire Prevention bureau for an inspection. If the inspection discloses compliance, a Certificate will be issued.

Just for the record, I think fire safety and prevention are almost the most important thing to consider when buying a new home. However, this is something that they MAKE you get and present at the time of closing – you cannot close on your sale without one. On top of that they charge you $50 bucks just to get the application and they only do the inspections between 7:30-9:00 AM.

I dunno… I understand that local government (particularly special services like the Fire Dept.) needs to make money somehow… I just feel like the whole certification law was a scam from the beginning for a way to make money. Maybe I’m just bitter because this whole process is nothing but shelling out money hand over fist, but I think it bites that the local town can get away with charging $50/home for something that they require you to get.