State Assemblywoman Linda Stender has admitted that her husband received help from a charitable group to demolish a Sandy-damanged, half-million dollar home he owns in Manasquan.

Assemblywoman Linda Stender
Assemblywoman Linda Stender (NJ Assembly Majority Office)
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Stender (D-Union) confirmed to NJ.com that Coastal Habitat for Humanity approved an application to demolish the home purchased by Richard Stendert in 2008 for $465,000.

The decision by Coastal Habitat for Humanity brings into question how it decides who merits its help. Maureen Mulligan, who heads the Spring Lake Heights-based group, said the top income eligibility level of applicants was raised from 50 per cent of the average mean income in Monmouth County ($84,526) to 80 percent following Superstorm Sandy.

That would put the eligibility level for Habitat aid at $60,621. Stender's legislative form for 2013 shows her legislative salary of $49,000 and more than $50,000 in earnings for her husband Richard, from SVO Printing of Rockaway. The assemblywoman also reported income of $10,000 or less from two jobs with Medifit in Florham Park and the Fanwood/Scotch Plains YMCA.

"Like many others, our family suffered significant losses as a result of Hurricane Sandy," Stender said in a statement quoted by NJ.com. "An application was made to Coastal Habitat for Humanity to assist in rebuilding. There are outstanding issues which are the subject of continued efforts to resolve."

Mulligan, said Habitat demolished the home, originally built in 1932, because FEMA estimated its damage at 51 percent or more, making demolition more cost effective than  renovation and repair.

Stender told two fellow Union County legislators that she moved in to her 90-year-old mother's home in Scotch Plains and considers it to be her permanent address, while her husband had been living in the Pershing Avenue home. Stender's legislative financial disclosure form for 2013 shows that the Manasquan home was classified as a "Shore Home" for her spouse.

Last week, Stender was also named the deputy director and project manager of the Union County Improvement Authority, which carries an annual salary of $90,000 according to NJ.com.

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