A new $175 association fee for renters in A Pocono Country Place will destroy the businesses of landlords who cater to vacationers, a landlords’ group told the APCP Board. The Pocono Country Place board calls the fee a reasonable way to cover the costs of registering renters and sharing that information with other departments so renters can enter the private community’s gates and use the pool and other amenities. The fee was approved by the board last November but came to most landlords’ attention in an association “reminder” email early last month.

The issue came to a head last Saturday when at least a dozen landlords attended a regular board meeting. Landlord Joe Kowalski questions how the association can charge so much for renters who only stay a night or two, after not charging any rental fee for so many years. “There are two possible reasons for this fee,” Kowalski said. “The first is that they are revenue driven and the other is they don’t want people to rent vacation homes. I believe that it is a combination of both.”  Read more: