August 24, 2026
When the Island Heights Association sold lots in 1878, it wrote a prohibition on liquor into every deed. Many of those deeds still carry the clause today. That makes this one of the few American towns where a buyer will actually read a nineteenth-century covenant in their own chain of title — and it raises a question most people never think to ask: what else is in there, and what can be done about it?
The Island Heights Association wrote a liquor prohibition into every deed it sold in 1878, and many deeds still carry it. That clause is a restriction on use — an ordinary feature of American land title, and a different thing entirely from a covenant restricting who may own or occupy, which the Law Against Discrimination makes unlawful and unenforceable. Deeds of that era sometimes carried both. Since November 2021, New Jersey requires discriminatory covenants to be stripped from deeds recorded on or after January 1, 2022, bars county clerks from accepting deeds that reference them, and lets any owner who finds one file a Certificate of Release at no expense. Which makes the practical advice simple: read what is actually recorded against the property.
This is a companion to our Island Heights town guide and our zoning and renovation guide. It is general information about how deed restrictions work in New Jersey — it is not legal advice, not a title opinion, and not a determination about any property. Covenants are property-specific and their effect depends on their exact wording and chain of title. Every question raised here is a question for your own attorney and title company.
A restrictive covenant is a promise written into a deed that limits what can be done with the land — and, crucially, one that is intended to bind future owners rather than just the original buyer. It is not a rule the town imposes. It is a private agreement recorded against the property, which is why it can outlive everyone who negotiated it.
New Jersey practice identifies several essential elements for a covenant to be legally enforceable. It must clearly describe the restriction — vagueness cuts against enforcement rather than for it. It must identify the land burdened, and where applicable the land benefited. And it must be reasonable in scope and duration. Those requirements matter enormously when the document in question was drafted in the nineteenth century by people who could not have anticipated the property's current use.
Which is exactly why nobody should take a position on an old covenant from a blog post — including this one. Whether a specific clause in a specific chain of title is enforceable today turns on its precise language, the scheme it was part of, how it has been treated over time, and facts particular to the parcel. That is an attorney's determination. What a buyer can usefully do is know the restrictions exist, read them, and ask about them before closing rather than after.
The Island Heights Association, incorporated July 1, 1878, sold the borough's original lots with a stated intention: a family resort under temperance influences. It acted on that intention in the most durable way available to it — a clause prohibiting the use of liquor was written into every deed of sale. Many Island Heights deeds still contain that restriction, and the borough remains dry today, with alcohol sales prohibited in the borough and within a mile and a half of the old camp ground.
Read carefully what that clause is. It is a restriction on the use of the property. Use restrictions — limits on commercial activity, on subdivision, on building type, on nuisances — are an ordinary and entirely lawful feature of American land title, and they appear in deeds across the country. Whatever anyone thinks of a temperance covenant in 2026, it belongs to that category.
A restriction on what may be done on the land — no liquor, no commercial use, no outbuilding of a certain height — is a use covenant.
A restriction on who may own or occupy the land is something else entirely. Covenants of that kind are prohibited by the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and are unlawful and unenforceable — including restrictions based on race, creed, colour, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, affectional or sexual orientation, familial status, disability, liability for service in the Armed Forces, nationality, sex, gender identity or expression, or source of lawful income used for rental or mortgage payments.
Why this matters in a town like Island Heights: deeds written between the 1870s and the mid-twentieth century, here and across the United States, sometimes carry covenants of the second kind alongside ordinary ones. A chain of title that preserved an 1878 use restriction preserved everything else recorded with it. That is not an accusation about any particular property — it is a reason to actually read the document.
The next chapter covers what New Jersey law now provides for exactly this situation — and it is more useful, and less known, than most owners realise.
On November 8, 2021, New Jersey enacted legislation (A-5390/SB-2861) addressing discriminatory restrictive covenants directly. It took effect immediately, and it does four things worth knowing.
Discriminatory language prohibited by the Law Against Discrimination must be removed from deeds recorded from that date. A deed may still include a general provision that it is subject to any and all covenants of record — what is barred is referencing the specific prohibited portion.
A county clerk or register of deeds and mortgages is required to refuse any deed submitted for recording that references the specific portion of such a covenant. Attorneys and title companies preparing a deed must ensure it is not referenced before submission — which is why your closing attorney is now a checkpoint for this.
A property owner who discovers a prohibited covenant may file a Certificate of Release of Certain Prohibited Covenants to affirmatively release it, at no expense. It may be recorded before a conveyance to a purchaser, or at any point an owner finds one and chooses to act. This is the practical remedy, and almost nobody knows it exists.
Every homeowners' or property owners' association, cooperative corporation, condominium association and planned community was required to review its governing documents within 90 days — by February 6, 2022 — and amend out any restriction prohibited by the Law Against Discrimination.
Two clarifications that prevent unnecessary alarm. First, these covenants were already unlawful and unenforceable long before 2021 — the legislation does not change their legal effect, it removes them from the paperwork. Second, a deed recorded on or after January 1, 2022 that mistakenly contains such language still constitutes a valid transfer of the property. Nobody's ownership is in jeopardy because of a clause someone wrote a century ago.
What the Legislature said it was for is worth repeating, because it is the reason this matters to a real estate practice rather than only to lawyers: a buyer who encounters restrictive language in a deed and does not understand the law may be discouraged from purchasing or from continuing to live in a home — and an owner who discovers it after buying may be shocked and upset. The remedy exists so that nobody has to keep a document like that in their file.
Know what's in your chain of title before a buyer's attorney finds it in week three.
A surprise in attorney review costs momentum, and momentum is expensive in a market that already averages 65 days. Read the restrictions early, deal with anything that needs dealing with, and market the house knowing exactly what conveys with it. We work historic property this way as a matter of course — and bring the New York metro buyer pool that pays for a 375-structure district.
Buyers. During attorney review, ask specifically for the recorded restrictions affecting the parcel — not a summary, the documents. A title commitment lists exceptions; ask your attorney to walk you through what each one actually says and whether any of it affects your plans for the property. In most New Jersey towns this is thoroughness. In Island Heights, where an 1878 covenant may genuinely be sitting in the chain, it is the job. Read it alongside the zoning envelope in our renovation guide, because between them they define what you can actually do with the house.
Sellers. Do the same reading before you list. A restriction discovered by the buyer's attorney in week three of a contract is a negotiation problem; the same restriction, known and understood before you go to market, is simply a fact you can answer. That matters more in a borough where homes average 65 days on market — momentum is genuinely expensive here, and surprises cost it.
Owners not transacting at all. If you already own here and have never read your deed, it is worth an hour. And if you find a covenant of the prohibited kind, you do not have to leave it there — the Certificate of Release exists precisely for that, at no cost, and can be filed whenever you choose rather than only at a sale.
And the standing caveat, because it genuinely matters here. Everything above is general information about how New Jersey deed restrictions work. It is not legal advice and not a title opinion. Whether any particular covenant binds any particular property is a question of that document's language and that parcel's chain of title, and it belongs to your attorney and your title company. What this article can do is make sure you know the questions exist — which, in a town founded on a clause, is not a small thing. Town context sits in our Island Heights guide, and current inventory on our listings page.
When your title commitment arrives, go straight to the exceptions schedule and ask for a copy of every recorded document listed there. Most buyers never do this — they read the summary line, see "subject to covenants and restrictions of record," and move on. In a town where the founding association wrote terms into every deed it sold, that summary line can be covering a document from the 1870s that you have every right to read. Asking for the underlying instruments costs nothing and takes one email. It is the single highest-value question a buyer can ask in this borough, and the one almost nobody asks.
"Island Heights is the only town I work where a buyer might read a covenant written in 1878 and find it's still sitting in their own chain of title. The liquor clause is the famous one, and honestly it's harmless — it's a use restriction, and the town's been dry since before anyone's grandparents were born. What I care about is the habit it should create. Deeds from that era sometimes carry other things, and New Jersey gave owners a free way to strike the unlawful ones back in 2021 that almost nobody I meet has heard of. So read the documents. Ask your attorney for the actual exceptions, not the summary. It costs an email and it's the right thing to do regardless of whether you're buying, selling, or just sitting on a house you've owned for thirty years."
— Anthony Licciardello, Broker, The Prodigy Team
Historic property, recorded restrictions and the paperwork that comes with a hundred-and-fifty-year-old town are native ground for me: I'm Anthony Licciardello, Broker of The Prodigy Team — dual-licensed in New York and New Jersey, a former Director of Community Affairs in the Bloomberg Administration, and a leading broker for cross-border New York–New Jersey transactions.
Anthony Licciardello · Broker, The Prodigy Team · 718-873-7345
We read the recorded restrictions early — before attorney review, not during it.
Is the 1878 liquor clause still in Island Heights deeds?
Many Island Heights deeds still contain the restriction. The Island Heights Association, incorporated July 1, 1878, wrote a clause prohibiting the use of liquor into every deed of sale, and the borough remains dry today, with alcohol sales prohibited in the borough and within a mile and a half of the old camp ground. Whether a particular clause appears in and affects a particular property is a question for your attorney and title company to answer from the actual chain of title.
What makes a deed restriction enforceable in New Jersey?
New Jersey practice identifies several essential elements: the covenant must clearly describe the restriction, since ambiguity works against enforceability; it must identify the land burdened and, where applicable, the land benefited; and it must be reasonable in scope and duration. Whether any specific covenant is enforceable against a specific property today depends on its exact language and that parcel's chain of title, and is a determination for an attorney rather than a general article.
Can a discriminatory covenant be removed from a New Jersey deed?
Yes. Legislation signed November 8, 2021 requires that discriminatory restrictive covenants prohibited by the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination be removed from deeds recorded on or after January 1, 2022, and requires county clerks to refuse deeds referencing the specific prohibited portion. A property owner who discovers such a covenant may file a Certificate of Release of Certain Prohibited Covenants to release it, at no expense — either before a conveyance or at any time upon discovery. These covenants were already unlawful and unenforceable; the law removes them from the paperwork.
How do I find out what restrictions affect a property?
Ask during attorney review. When the title commitment arrives, request copies of the recorded documents listed on the exceptions schedule rather than relying on the summary line, and have your attorney explain what each one says and whether it affects your plans. It costs one email. In a borough where the founding association wrote terms into every deed it sold, it is the highest-value question a buyer can ask.
Island Heights — The Town Built on a Temperance Clause
What You Can and Can't Do to a House in Island Heights
Island Heights Homes for Sale — Browse Current Listings
The Route 9 Corridor — Five Boroughs, Six Cores
Moving to Toms River — The Complete Township Guide
Legal framework as of publication, from the sources noted. New Jersey legislation A-5390/SB-2861, signed by Governor Phil Murphy on November 8, 2021 and effective immediately, requiring the removal of discriminatory language restricting the ownership or use of real property as prohibited by the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination — particularly N.J.S.A. 10:5-4 and 10:5-12 — from all deeds recorded on or after January 1, 2022; the prohibition covering restrictions on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, affectional or sexual orientation, familial status, disability, liability for service in the Armed Forces of the United States, nationality, sex, gender identity or expression, or source of lawful income used for rental or mortgage payments; the requirement that a county clerk or register of deeds and mortgages refuse to accept any deed submitted for recordation that references the specific portion of any such restrictive covenant, and that any attorney or title company preparing a deed for recordation ensure such covenants are not referenced prior to submission; the provision that a deed may include a general provision stating that the deed is subject to any and all covenants; the provision that a deed recorded on or after January 1, 2022 that mistakenly contains such language nonetheless constitutes a valid transfer of real property; the availability to a real property owner of a Certificate of Release of Certain Prohibited Covenants, recordable at no expense either prior to recordation of a deed conveying the property to a purchaser or upon an owner's discovery of such a covenant; and the requirement that within 90 days of enactment — by February 6, 2022 — every governing board of a homeowners' or property owners' association, cooperative corporation, condominium association or planned community review its governing documents and amend out any restriction, covenant or condition prohibited by the Law Against Discrimination. Per the Community Associations Institute, Riker Danzig, Scarinci Hollenbeck and additional New Jersey legal commentary. General enforceability elements for restrictive covenants in New Jersey — that a covenant must clearly describe the restriction, identify the land burdened and where applicable the land benefited, and be reasonable in scope and duration — per New Jersey legal commentary published January 2026. Island Heights history per the Borough of Island Heights and associated local historical sources: the Island Heights Association incorporated July 1, 1878 including in every deed of sale a clause prohibiting the use of liquor, with many deeds today still containing the restriction, and the sale of alcohol remaining forbidden in the borough and within one and a half miles of the camp ground. The New Jersey instrument for releasing such a covenant is the Certificate of Release of Certain Prohibited Covenants; procedures in other states arise under different law and do not apply here. This article is general information about how deed restrictions operate in New Jersey. It is not legal advice, not a title opinion, and not a determination regarding any property, covenant or chain of title. Statutes, procedures and forms change. Whether any particular covenant exists in, binds, or affects any particular property depends on the specific recorded language and that parcel's chain of title — consult your own attorney and title company, and confirm current requirements with the appropriate county clerk, before acting on anything described here.
Prodigy Real Estate is an innovative real estate company offering high-end video production, home valuation services, purchasing, and home sales. Serving New York and New Jersey.
