Toms River residents take action against aggressive realtors pushing for home sales

TOMS RIVER, New Jersey (WABC) -- Residents in one New Jersey town are taking action against aggressive realtors after neighbors in Toms River complained that some were using bold and aggressive tactics to try to convince them to sell.

Many residents responded with signs that read, "Don't sell! Toms River strong."

"It got crazy," Mayor Thomas Kelaher said.

Toms River officials identified two zones of neighborhoods in the North Dover section where homeowners reportedly they were being hammered by real estate agents whose messages to them to sell and sell fast had strong religious overtones.

Laura Anderson said the agents would come knocking at her door.

"They said I should move," she said. "I wouldn't want to live next to people of another faith."

A town hall meeting on February 24 was so packed that Kelaher said hundreds had to be turned away.

"In my opinion, what we have going on right now is an invasion," resident Diane Cimo said. "And nothing less."

The town responded by enforcing a 2002 "no knock law" already on the books for the zones most targeted by the solicitors. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of homeowners have posted "No knock" stickers on their doors, with a violation punishable by a more than $1,200 fine.