I have encountered many people who are ambivalent and sometimes even discontented about the prospect of cracking down on illegal rentals. But I have seldom come across someone such as Ms. Aliferis, who actually advances the argument that one should break the law when he or she can no longer afford the cost of home ownership. To explain away the proliferation of illegal rentals on Long Island as being a result of the high cost of living here is unfortunate. To actually defend such illegal activity is downright reprehensible.

Ms. Aliferis writes that, "accessory apartments have become a fashionable term used to diminish a homeowner's right to the free use of his space. Faced with the highest property taxes in the county and state, any accommodation used to help pay for these taxes is a homeowner's necessity". Let us apply her logic (and language) to any other illegal activity, insider trading, for example. The argument would go as follows: "Insider trading" has become a fashionable term used to diminish a stockbroker's right to the free use of his money. Faced with the highest property taxes in the county and state, any accommodation used to help pay for these taxes is a stockbroker's necessity. I don't think the SEC, or any law abiding citizen for that matter, would come close to buying such an argument.

But Ms. Aliferis is correct about one thing - homeowners do have rights pertaining to the ownership of their home. They have the right to prevent their school taxes from spiraling out of control after having to foot the bill for educating children of illegal renters. They have the right to preserve the kind of quality of life originally intended for their neighborhoods. They have the right to the quieter, more suburban communities into which they assumed they were moving when they initially bought their homes. They have the right to keep down municipal maintenance costs for everything from park usage to road improvements to emergency services, all of which go up when more people live here illegally. And they certainly have every right to follow the democratic process of appearing before the Town zoning board to appeal for variances to accommodate rentals on their property.

They don't, however, have the right to break the law by renting illegally. When they do, they violate the aforementioned rights of all law-abiding homeowners.

Joseph Azose

West Hempstead