City of Englewood, NJ Article III Canvassing and Soliciting for Real Estate Listings

[Adopted by the City Council of the City of Englewood 12-2-1986 by Ord. No. 86-48. Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 311-22 Definitions.

For the purposes of this article, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:

CANVASSING

Door-to-door soliciting or soliciting by the use of circulars, visitations, the mails or any other means where the canvasser or his employer has not been invited or requested by the owner, as defined below, to obtain a listing of real property or to confer with the owner regarding a real estate transaction. The term "canvassing" as defined shall not apply when such soliciting is restricted to a specific house on a particular day, nor shall it apply when a property owner has publicly advertised his house or real property for sale.

OWNER

The lessee, sublessee, assignee, managing agent or other person having the right of ownership or possession or to sell, rent or lease any real property.

PURCHASER

Any occupant, prospective occupant, lessee, prospective lessee, buyer, prospective buyer or any agent of these.

§ 311-23 Notification to canvass required.

A. Any person who receives or expects to receive pecuniary gain from the sale or lease of real property in the City must give advance written notification to the City Clerk in accordance with Subsections B and C of this section before engaging in any activities to canvass or solicit in the City in an attempt to obtain listings of real property or in an attempt to bring about the lease, sale or purchase of real property.

B. Contents of notice; expiration.

(1) The advance written notification required by this section shall contain the following information:

(a) The name and address of the person or persons who will canvass or solicit;

(b) The name and address of the person or company by whom such person or persons are employed; and

(c) A listing of the names of the street or streets in the City which the person or persons intend to canvass or solicit, setting forth the starting and ending dates on which these streets will be canvassed or solicited.

(2) Each such notice of intent to canvass or solicit shall be valid for a period not to exceed 30 days from the intended starting date of the soliciting or canvassing as indicated in the notification. After the expiration of the 30 days, a new notification of intent to canvass or solicit must again be filed with the City Clerk containing the same or amended information. Canvassing or soliciting, as defined herein, without prenotification or renewal of an expired notification as required by this section shall be a violation of this article.

C. The written notification of intent to canvass or solicit shall be filed with the City Clerk not less than two working days prior to the date on which the canvassing or soliciting will take place.

§ 311-24 List of owners requesting they not be canvassed.

A. Any owner of real property within the City who does not wish to be canvassed or solicited for the sale or rental of such real property may request, in writing, that his name and the property address be added to a list of those persons requesting that they not be canvassed or solicited.

B. Such requests shall be filed with the City Clerk.

C. Upon receipt of such a request, the City Clerk shall add the name and property address to a list of those persons requesting that they not be canvassed or solicited.

D. Such list shall be maintained in the office of the City Clerk and shall be available for public inspection. Upon filing of a notification to canvass or solicit, the City Clerk shall furnish a copy of said list to any applicant requesting same.

E. Owners may request, in writing, to be removed from said list, and, upon receipt of such a request, the City Clerk shall remove said name and address from the list.

§ 311-25 Acts of discrimination prohibited.

No person shall commit any of the following acts:

A. Promote or influence or attempt to promote or influence a property owner, occupant or tenant to list for sale, sell, remove from a lease real property by referring to race, color, religational origin of neighbors, prospective buyers or other occupants or prospective occupants or real property.

B. Induce directly or indirectly or attempt to induce directly or indirectly the sale or listing for sale of real property by representing that the presence or anticipated presence of persons of any particular race, religion, or national origin in the area has resulted or may result in:

(1) The lowering of property values;

(2) A change in the racial, religious, or ethnic composition of the block, neighborhood, or area in which the property is located;

(3) An increase in criminal or antisocial behavior in the area;

(4) A decline in the quality of the schools serving the area.

C. Make any representations (or misrepresentations) concerning the listing for sale of the anticipated listing for sale or the sale of any real property in any residentially zones area for the purpose of inducing or attempting to induce the sale or listing for sale of other real property in such area.

D. Make any representation to any prospective purchaser that any block, neighborhood or area has, will or might undergo an adverse change with respect to the religious, racial or ethnic composition of the block, neighborhood or area for the purpose of discouraging the purchase of property in a particular area.

E. Place a sign purporting to offer for sale any property that is not in fact offered for sale.

F. Advertise for sale or rental property which is nonexistent or which is not actually for sale or rental.

G. Engage in or hire or conspire with others to commit acts or activities of any nature, the purpose of which is to coerce, cause panic, incite unrest, create or play upon fear with the purpose of inducing or attempting to induce the sale or listing for sale of real property.

H. To solicit or canvass any owner whose name and property address is included on the list maintained by the City Clerk of persons requesting that they not be canvassed or solicited.

I. To engage in any economic reprisal or any other form of intimidation against any person because that person has filed a complaint, testified, assisted or participated in any manner in any investigation, proceeding or conference under the terms of this article.

J. To aid, abet, incite, compel or coerce any person to engage in any of the practices forbidden by this article or to obstruct or prevent any person from complying with the provisions of this article.

K. Refer, directly or indirectly or by implication, to race, color or creed in any advertisement or other solicitation offering real property for sale or rental.

L. Solicit or attempt to solicit the sale or rental or the listing for sale or rental of real property without furnishing in written form to the owner or occupier of such real property the name of the person or organization soliciting such sale, rental or listing.

§ 311-26 Procedure for filing and processing complaints.

A. Any person claiming to be aggrieved by an alleged unlawful practice forbidden by this article may, by himself or by his attorney at law, make, sign and file with the City Clerk a verified complaint in writing which shall state the name and address of the person alleged to have committed the unlawful practice complained of and which shall set forth the particulars thereof and contain such other information as may be reasonably required by the City Clerk.

B. After the filing of a complaint by an aggrieved person or by any resident, the City Clerk shall cause a prompt investigation to be made of the alleged unlawful practice.

C. If, after such investigation, the City Clerk shall determine that no probable cause exists for crediting the allegations of the complaint, he shall, within 10 days from such determination, cause to be issued and served upon the complainant written notice of such determination.

D. If after such investigation, the City Clerk shall determine that probable cause exists in accordance with the allegations of the complaint, he may elect to take action as set forth in Subsection E below, or in his discretion, he may endeavor to eliminate the unlawful practice complained of by conference and conciliation. Such conference shall be opened to the public unless otherwise requested by one or both of the parties to the conference.

E. If the practice complained of is not eliminated, the City Clerk may:

(1) Refer the matter to the Real Estate Commission of the state for such disciplinary action as may seem appropriate and make any records available to the Commission as may relate to the matter, notwithstanding any other action which the City Clerk may take or may already have taken.

(2) Sign a complaint against the alleged offending person for trial before the Municipal Court.

(3) Refer the matter to the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights or any other official body, agency or individual charged with enforcing laws which prohibit such practices.

F. A person claiming to be aggrieved by reason of a violation of this article may elect to file a complaint directly to the Municipal Court and prosecute same on his own behalf or to pursue any other proper procedure that he may elect.