What runs underground between the water main on your street and your basement wall? For roughly 85 percent of the service lines in Ho-Ho-Kus, the state's inventory has no answer on record.
Until this spring, a blank in that inventory had little to do with selling a house. On April 28, 2026, the Mayor and Council adopted Ordinance 2026-116. It added a new article to Chapter 81 of the borough code and connected the water line directly to the certificate a seller needs before closing. The practical effect is that for most homes in Ho-Ho-Kus, a lead-free service line is now something you have to document before the sale. Most sellers start without any document at all.
The Sentence in Chapter 81 That Reaches the Closing Table
The ordinance bans lead service lines throughout the borough and requires existing ones to be replaced. The section that matters for a sale is § 81-45:
Upon the sale or transfer of ownership of any dwelling, building, or structure within the Borough that has not been exempted from the requirements of this article pursuant to § 81-40, the owner must provide proof to the Borough that the lead service line has been replaced in order to receive a certificate of occupancy or a certificate of continuing occupancy.
The exemption in § 81-40 is narrow. An owner qualifies by giving the borough written documentation from a licensed and certified plumber that there is no lead service line on the property, or that one was already removed and replaced. The borough may also accept "other competent evidence" at its discretion. The ordinance gives owners 180 days from its effective date to file that documentation. The effective date depends on publication after adoption, and the copy of the ordinance on file doesn't print that date. Anyone counting toward a deadline should get the date from the Borough Clerk.
The definition also covers more homes than the word "lead" suggests. A "lead service line" in this article includes galvanized iron or steel pipe, and it includes any galvanized pipe that is or was connected to an upstream component made of lead or of unknown material. So a house with old galvanized plumbing can fall under the rule even if nobody has ever found lead.
Why "Unknown" Is the Normal Ho-Ho-Kus Answer
New Jersey requires every community water system to inventory its service lines. The most recent counts the state publishes for the Ho-Ho-Kus Water Department, PWSID NJ0228001, were last updated August 22, 2023. A row labeled 2024 repeats the same figures.
| Service line classification, Ho-Ho-Kus WD | Count | Approximate share |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown material | 1,297 | 85% |
| Non-lead | 215 | 14% |
| Known lead | 12 | under 1% |
| Known galvanized | 10 | under 1% |
The 22 known lead and galvanized lines are a small share. The working figure is the 215. Only about one service line in seven in the borough is recorded as non-lead. The other 1,297 owners don't have the paperwork § 81-40 asks for, and in most cases nobody has ever looked.
The inventory has shifted before. The 2022 submission listed 1,459 unknown lines and 128 non-lead, so about 160 lines were resolved before the August 2023 update. Progress at that pace doesn't come close to clearing the rest by the time most owners next sell. You can look up statewide figures on NJDEP's lead service line map, and the state tells residents who want information about their own property to ask their local water supplier.
What the Borough Is Doing on Hollywood and Sheridan
Borough Hall is working through the unknowns one street at a time, and the order is set by paving. At the April 28 meeting, Administrator Jones said the County would be paving Maple Avenue, Sheridan Avenue and Hollywood Avenue from Franklin Turnpike to Route 17, and Wearimus Road the following year. He said the borough planned to get the pipe replacements done first because "we do not want to dig up newly paved roads," using a federal grant. The County finished Maple Avenue from the Ho-Ho-Kus border to the Glen Rock border on July 31.
By August 25, the borough was preparing to go out to bid for a waterline assessment on Hollywood and Sheridan, paid for by a $950,000 federal grant. The administrator described it as a check of "every connection," which the borough must complete by 2031. He also reported that relining on First Street was done and that First Street is now scheduled for 2027 paving, supported by a separate $235,000 grant. The same meeting's bill list includes an engineering charge for Sheridan and Hollywood "Phase 1" documentation and a printing charge for "known/unknown leadline letters." If one of those letters arrives at your house, it's the clearest sign of how the borough currently classifies your line.
The deadline above all of this comes from the state. P.L.2021, c.183 requires community water systems to replace all known lead service lines, and address lines of unknown material, by July 22, 2031. Ho-Ho-Kus has also made the private side of the line a condition of resale, so a sale this fall faces the borough's timeline well before the state's.
Two Routes to Compliance, and What Each Leaves Attached to the House
The ordinance gives owners two ways to replace a covered line.
- The borough program. The owner registers, signs access paperwork, and the borough's designated contractor checks the line. If the line turns out to be lead or galvanized, the borough replaces it and charges the owner. The owner can pay all at once or in installments over up to five years, and the borough waives legal interest.
- The owner's own contractor. The owner hires the work and has to give the borough three things: a borough permit issued to a licensed plumber, the contractor's invoice, and a licensed plumbing inspector's report confirming the work meets code.
At the April meeting, the administrator estimated the cost at "$3000 or less," billed at the borough's rate. The minutes don't set a fixed rate per line.
The installment option is where a sale gets involved. Under § 81-43, any assessment made through the program stays a lien on the property until every installment and any accrued interest is paid. An owner who signs up for a five-year plan and sells in year two will have a borough lien to settle at closing. An owner who does nothing within the 180-day window faces § 81-44. The borough may enter the property on at least 72 hours' notice, do the replacement, and bill the owner with payment due in 30 days. Unpaid balances become a lien that the borough can collect the same way it collects property taxes.
The Seller's CCO Packet Hasn't Caught Up Yet
Resale certificates in Ho-Ho-Kus go through the Bureau of Fire Prevention at 333 Warren Avenue. Before a residential sale, the borough's packet asks for two documents: a Smoke Detector/Carbon Monoxide/Fire Extinguisher Compliance certificate and a Certificate of Continued Occupancy. The CCO application starts a review of borough files for open permits, violations, and utility and tax records, and the borough inspects the house. The fire certificate requires working 10-year sealed smoke alarms on every level including the basement, working CO alarms, and one 10-pound ABC extinguisher within 10 feet of the kitchen. The packet says certificates are issued within five business days unless there are open items.
The CCO and smoke detector application we reviewed has no field for the service line. It isn't dated, and the ordinance requirement applies whether or not the form mentions it. A seller who works only from the packet could reach the five-day window with an open item they never knew about. The fees are also listed two ways. The packet shows $150 for the CCO and $100 for the fire certificate, payable as a single $250 check. A search of the borough's eCode shows a $100 CCO application fee and $75 for each resubmission. Confirm the amount with the borough before you write the check.
A state requirement applies here too. Question 41 on New Jersey's Seller's Property Condition Disclosure Statement asks whether the seller knows of "any lead piping (including any service line, piping materials, fixtures, and solder) on the property." In most of Ho-Ho-Kus the honest answer is that the material isn't known. The borough ordinance makes that answer something that has to be resolved before the certificate can be issued.
A Thirty-Day Market Leaves No Slack for Plumbing
Public market statistics for Ho-Ho-Kus alone aren't available. NJ REALTORS limits municipal reports to its members. The closest public figures come from the Greater Bergen single-family report for August 2026, with data current as of September 9, 2026. That region includes Ho-Ho-Kus along with many other towns. In August 2026, its median single-family home sold after 30 days on market, sellers received 103.8 percent of list price on average, and supply stood at 2.5 months.
These figures describe a region, not the borough. They still show how a typical sale is timed. When homes go under contract in about a month and the CCO comes in about a week, there isn't much room to schedule a plumber, pull a borough permit, dig, replace the line and book an inspector after an offer is signed. Planning a sale around § 81-45 means doing that work before the listing goes live, in this order:
- Check whether a borough letter has already classified your line, and confirm the ordinance's effective date with Borough Hall.
- If the line may be non-lead, have a licensed, certified plumber document it in writing for the § 81-40 exemption.
- If the line is lead, galvanized or still unknown, decide between the borough program and a private contractor, and remember that program installments stay a lien until paid.
- Make sure your answer to disclosure question 41 matches whatever the plumber found.
- Apply for the CCO and fire certificate with the service line documentation already in the file.
None of this is legal advice, and the borough's Water Lead/Copper Service Line Program page and the Borough Clerk are the authorities on how the ordinance applies to a particular property.
Questions We're Hearing
Does this apply if my house is newer? The rule applies to any property served by a covered line, and it covers galvanized pipe connected to unknown upstream material. A licensed plumber's written finding, or other evidence the borough accepts at its discretion, is what gets a property out of the requirement. The age of the house doesn't.
Does the buyer or the seller handle it? Section 81-45 puts the obligation on "the owner" to give the borough proof before the certificate is issued. The contract can still allocate cost and timing, which is a question for your attorney.
What if the borough is about to work on my street? The Hollywood and Sheridan assessment is a borough project tied to County paving. Whether its timing lines up with your closing date is something to confirm directly with Borough Hall.
If you're planning a Ho-Ho-Kus sale in the coming months, My Bergen House can help you work out the service line paperwork, CCO timing and pricing before you list, so your certificate application is complete when you file it. Get Your Home Valuation, and we'll include a review of what Borough Hall will ask for at closing.
