The position of Municipal Housing Liaison for the Borough of Maywood
is hereby established. The Municipal Housing Liaison shall be appointed
by duly adopted resolution of the Borough Council and be subject to
the approval by the Superior Court. The Borough of Maywood shall appoint
a specific municipal employee to serve as a Municipal Housing Liaison
responsible for overseeing the Borough's affordable housing program,
including overseeing the administration of affordability controls
on the affordable units and the affirmative marketing of available
affordable units in accordance with the Borough's Affirmative
Marketing Plan; fulfilling monitoring and reporting requirements;
and supervising Administrative Agent(s). Maywood shall adopt an ordinance
creating the position of Municipal Housing Liaison and a resolution
appointing the person to fulfill the position of Municipal Housing
Liaison. The Municipal Housing Liaison shall be appointed by the governing
body and may be a full-or part-time employee.
The Municipal Housing Liaison must be duly qualified through a training
program sponsored by Affordable Housing Professionals of New Jersey
and meet the requirements for qualifications, including initial and
periodic training found in N.J.A.C. 5:93[1] before assuming the duties of Municipal Housing Liaison.
The Municipal Housing Liaison shall be responsible for oversight
and administration of the affordable housing program for the Borough
of Maywood, including the following responsibilities which may not
be contracted out to the Administrative Agent:
Serving as the municipality's primary point of contact for all
inquiries from the state, affordable housing providers, Administrative
Agents and interested households;
Attending continuing education opportunities on affordability controls,
compliance monitoring and affirmative marketing at least annually
and more often as needed.
Subject to the approval of the Court, the Borough of Maywood shall
designate one or more Administrative Agent(s) to administer and to
affirmatively market the affordable units constructed in the Borough
in accordance with UHAC and this chapter. An operating manual for
each affordable housing program shall be provided by the Administrative
Agent(s) to be adopted by resolution of the governing body and subject
to approval of the Court. The operating manual(s) shall be available
for public inspection in the office of the Borough Clerk, in the office
of the Municipal Housing Liaison, and in the office(s) of the Administrative
Agent(s). The Municipal Housing Liaison shall supervise the work of
the Administrative Agent(s).
The Borough shall designate by resolution of the Borough Council,
subject to the approval of the Superior Court, one or more Administrative
Agents to administer newly constructed affordable units in accordance
with N.J.A.C. 5:93[1] and UHAC. An Administrative Agent shall be an independent
entity serving under contract to and reporting to the municipality.
The fees of the Administrative Agent shall be paid by the owners of
the affordable units for which the services of the Administrative
Agent are required.
An operating manual shall be provided by the Administrative Agent(s)
to be adopted by resolution of the governing body and subject to approval
of the Superior Court. The operating manuals shall be available for
public inspection in the office of the Municipal Clerk and in the
office(s) of the Administrative Agent(s).
An operating manual shall be provided by the Administrative Agent(s)
to be adopted by resolution of the governing body and subject to approval
of the Superior Court. The operating manuals shall be available for
public inspection in the office of the Municipal Clerk and in the
office(s) of the Administrative Agent(s). The Borough Administrative
Agent shall monitor the designated Administrative Agent of the developer
in the initial sales and rental transactions for low- and moderate-income
dwellings in accordance with N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.14, as it may be amended
or superseded. The developer's administrative agent shall have
all of the responsibilities as put forth in this rule. After the initial
sales and rental transactions, the Borough Administrative Agent shall
monitor the activities of the developer's or owner's Administrative
Agent for any resales or rerentals. If the person is the Borough's
Administrative Agent, then he or she shall assume all of the duties
and responsibilities set forth in N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.14 following the
initial renting, sales and occupancy of low- and moderate-income dwellings.
The affordability controls set forth in this article shall be administered
and enforced by the Administrative Agent regardless of association.
The primary responsibility of the Administrative Agent shall be to
ensure that the restricted units are sold or rented, as applicable,
only to low- and moderate-income households in accordance with the
Fair Housing Act.
The Administrative Agent, whether the Borough's representative,
developer's agent, or a delegated agent, shall have the responsibility
to income qualify low- and moderate-income households, to place income-eligible
households in low- and moderate-income units upon initial occupancy,
to provide for the initial occupancy of low- and moderate-income units
with income-qualified households, to continue to qualify households
for reoccupancy of units as they become vacant during the period of
affordability controls, to assist with advertising and outreach to
low- and moderate-income households, and to enforce the terms of the
deed restriction and mortgage loan. All Administrative Agents shall
provide counseling services to low- and moderate-income applicants
on subjects such as budgeting, credit issues, mortgage qualification,
rental lease requirements and landlord/tenant law.
The Municipal Housing Liaison shall supervise the work of the Administrative
Agent(s) and shall coordinate his or her activities with the Borough
Administrative Agent to ensure the accurate tracking of the progress
of the occupancy of affordable housing in the municipality, answer
inquiries regarding affordable housing from the public or direct same
to the appropriate official or agency, and comply with the affordable
housing monitoring and reporting requirements of the state.
The Borough Council may establish a reasonable fee to program participants
for the administration of the affordability controls program. The
fees of the Administrative Agent shall be paid by the owners of the
affordable units for which the services of the Administrative Agent
are required.
In order to ensure an orderly transfer of control responsibility
from a municipality to an Administrative Agent, from one Administrative
Agent to another Administrative Agent, or other transfer, the requirements
as set forth in N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.17 shall apply as are necessary before
or during the transition. The Administrative Agent's enforcement
responsibility for implementing such practices and procedures shall
not be delegated or otherwise transferred to any other party, except
to a successor Administrative Agent.
By accepting state funds for affordable housing purposes, or by submitting
to the jurisdiction of the court, the Borough of Maywood shall be
deemed to have delegated to the Administrative Agent the day-to-day
responsibility for implementing practices and procedures designated
to ensure effective compliance with the controls set forth in this
article. The governing body of the municipality, however, shall retain
the ultimate responsibility for ensuring effective compliance with
the requirements as set forth in UHAC and any settlement agreements
pertaining to affordable housing matters.
The Administrative Agent shall perform the duties and responsibilities
of an Administrative Agent as are set forth in UHAC and which are
described in full detail in the operating manual, including those
set forth in N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.14, 5:80-26.16 and 5:80-26.18 thereof,
which includes:
Attending continuing education opportunities on affordability controls,
compliance monitoring, and affirmative marketing as offered or approved
by the Superior Court.
Conducting an outreach process to affirmatively market affordable
housing units in accordance with the Affirmative Marketing Plan of
the Borough of Maywood and the provisions of N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.15;
and
Providing counseling or contracting to provide counseling services
to low- and moderate-income applicants on subjects such as budgeting,
credit issues, mortgage qualification, rental lease requirements,
and landlord/tenant law.
Conducting interviews and obtaining sufficient documentation
of gross income and assets upon which to base a determination of income
eligibility for a low- or moderate-income unit;
Requiring that all certified applicants for restricted units
execute a certificate substantially in the form, as applicable, of
either the ownership or rental certificates set forth in Appendixes
J and K of N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.1 et seq.;
Creating and maintaining a referral list of eligible applicant
households living in the housing region and eligible applicant households
with members working in the housing region where the units are located;
Employing a random selection process as provided in the Affirmative
Marketing Plan of the Borough of Maywood when referring households
for certification to affordable units; and
Notifying the following entities of the availability of affordable
housing units in the Borough of Maywood: Fair Share Housing Center,
the New Jersey State Conference of the NAACP, the Latino Action Network,
NORWESCAP, the New Jersey Resource Center, and the Supportive Housing
Association.
Furnishing to attorneys or closing agents forms of deed restrictions
and mortgages for recording at the time of conveyance of title of
each restricted unit;
Creating and maintaining a file on each restricted unit for
its control period, including the recorded deed with restrictions,
recorded mortgage and note, as appropriate;
Ensuring that the removal of the deed restrictions and cancellation
of the mortgage note are effectuated and properly filed with the Bergen
County Register of Deeds or Bergen County Clerk's office after
the termination of the affordability controls for each restricted
unit;
Instituting and maintaining an effective means of communicating
information between owners and the Administrative Agent regarding
the availability of restricted units for resale or re-rental; and
Instituting and maintaining an effective means of communicating
information to low- (or very-low-) and moderate-income households
regarding the availability of restricted units for resale or rerental.
Reviewing and approving requests for determination from owners
of restricted units who wish to take out home equity loans or refinance
during the term of their ownership that the amount of indebtedness
to be incurred will not violate the terms of this chapter;
Reviewing and approving requests to increase sales prices from
owners of restricted units who wish to make capital improvements to
the units that would affect the selling price, such authorizations
to be limited to those improvements resulting in additional bedrooms
or bathrooms and the depreciated cost of central air-conditioning
systems;
Securing annually from the municipality a list of all affordable
housing units for which tax bills are mailed to absentee owners, and
notifying all such owners that they must either move back to their
unit or sell it;
Securing from all developers and sponsors of restricted units,
at the earliest point of contact in the processing of the project
or development, written acknowledgement of the requirement that no
restricted unit can be offered, or in any other way committed, to
any person, other than a household duly certified to the unit by the
Administrative Agent;
Posting annually, in all rental properties (including two-family
homes), a notice as to the maximum permitted rent together with the
telephone number of the Administrative Agent where complaints of excess
rent or other charges can be made;
Sending annual mailings to all owners of affordable dwelling
units, reminding them of the notices and requirements outlined in
N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.18(d)4;
Creating and publishing a written operating manual for each
affordable housing program administered by the Administrative Agent,
to be approved by the Borough Council and the Court, setting forth
procedures for administering the affordability controls.
The Administrative Agent shall prepare monitoring reports for
submission to the Municipal Housing Liaison in time to meet the Court-approved
monitoring and reporting requirements in accordance with the deadlines
set forth in this chapter.
The Administrative Agent shall attend continuing education sessions
on affordability controls, compliance monitoring, and affirmative
marketing at least annually and more often as needed.
The Borough of Maywood shall adopt by resolution an Affirmative Marketing
Plan, subject to the approval of the Court, that is compliant with
N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.15, as may be amended and supplemented.
The Affirmative Marketing Plan is a regional marketing strategy designed
to attract buyers and/or renters of all majority and minority groups,
regardless of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, marital
or familial status, gender, affectional or sexual orientation, disability,
age or number of children, to housing units which are being marketed
by a developer, sponsor or owner of affordable housing. The Affirmative
Marketing Plan is intended to target those potentially eligible persons
who are least likely to apply for affordable units in that region.
It is a continuing program that directs marketing activities toward
Housing Region 3 and is required to be followed throughout the period
of restriction.
The Affirmative Marketing Plan shall provide a regional preference
for all households that live and/or work in Housing Region 1, comprising
Bergen, Hudson, Passaic and Sussex Counties.
The municipality has the ultimate responsibility for adopting the
Affirmative Marketing Plan and for the proper administration of the
Affirmative Marketing Program, including initial sales and rentals
and resales and rerentals. The Administrative Agent designated by
the Borough of Maywood shall implement the Affirmative Marketing Plan
to assure the affirmative marketing of all affordable units.
In implementing the Affirmative Marketing Plan, the Administrative
Agent shall provide a list of counseling services to low- and moderate-income
applicants on subjects such as budgeting, credit issues, mortgage
qualification, rental lease requirements, and landlord/tenant law.
The Affirmative Marketing Plan shall describe the media to be used
in advertising and publicizing the availability of housing. In implementing
the Affirmative Marketing Plan, the Administrative Agent shall consider
the use of language translations where appropriate.
Applications for affordable housing shall be available in several
locations, including, at a minimum, the County Administration Building
and/or the County Library for each county within the housing region;
the municipal administration building and the municipal library in
the municipality in which the units are located; and the developer's
rental office. Applications shall be mailed to prospective applicants
upon request.
In addition to other affirmative marketing strategies, the Administrative
Agent shall provide specific notice of the availability of affordable
housing units in Maywood, and copies of the application forms, to
the following entities: Fair Share Housing Center, the New Jersey
State Conference of the NAACP, the Latino Action Network, STEPS, NORWESCAP,
the New Jersey Housing Resource Center, and the Supportive Housing
Association.
Upon the occurrence of a breach of any of the regulations governing
the affordable unit by an owner, developer or tenant, the municipality
shall have all remedies provided at law or equity, including but not
limited to foreclosure, tenant eviction, municipal fines, a requirement
for household recertification, acceleration of all sums due under
a mortgage, recoupment of any funds from a sale in the violation of
the regulations, injunctive relief to prevent further violation of
the regulations, entry on the premises, and specific performance.
After providing written notice of a violation to an owner, developer
or tenant of a low- or moderate-income unit and advising the owner,
developer or tenant of the penalties for such violations, the municipality
may take the following action(s) against the owner, developer or tenant
for any violation that remains uncured for a period of 60 calendar
days after service of the written notice:
The municipality may file a court action pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:58-11
alleging a violation, or violations, of the regulations governing
the affordable housing unit. If the owner, developer or tenant is
found by the court to have violated any provision of the regulations
governing affordable housing units the owner, developer or tenant
shall be subject to one or more of the following penalties, at the
discretion of the court:
A fine of not more than $500 per day or imprisonment for a period
not to exceed 90 days, or both, provided that each and every day that
the violation continues or exists shall be considered a separate and
specific violation of these provisions and not as a continuing offense;
In the case of an owner who has rented his or her low- or moderate-income
unit in violation of the regulations governing affordable housing
units, payment into the Borough of Maywood Affordable Housing Trust
Fund of the gross amount of rent illegally collected;
In the case of an owner who has rented his or her low- or moderate-income
unit in violation of the regulations governing affordable housing
units, payment of an innocent tenant's reasonable relocation
costs, as determined by the court.
The municipality may file a court action in the Superior Court seeking
a judgment, which would result in the termination of the owner's
equity or other interest in the unit, in the nature of a mortgage
foreclosure. Any such judgment shall be enforceable as if the same
were a judgment of default of the first purchase money mortgage and
shall constitute a lien against the low- and moderate-income unit.
Such judgment shall be enforceable, at the option of the municipality,
by means of an execution sale by the Sheriff, at which time the low-
and moderate-income unit of the violating owner shall be sold at a
sale price which is not less than the amount necessary to fully satisfy
and pay off any first purchase money mortgage and prior liens and
the costs of the enforcement proceedings incurred by the municipality,
including attorney's fees. The violating owner shall have the
right to possession terminated as well as the title conveyed pursuant
to the Sheriff's sale.
The proceeds of the Sheriff's sale shall first be applied
to satisfy the first purchase money mortgage lien and any prior liens
upon the low- and moderate-income unit. The excess, if any, shall
be applied to reimburse the municipality for any and all costs and
expenses incurred in connection with either the court action resulting
in the judgment of violation or the Sheriff's sale. In the event
that the proceeds from the Sheriff's sale are insufficient to
reimburse the municipality in full as aforesaid, the violating owner
shall be personally responsible for the full extent of such deficiency,
in addition to any and all costs incurred by the municipality in connection
with collecting such deficiency. In the event that a surplus remains
after satisfying all of the above, such surplus, if any, shall be
placed in escrow by the municipality for the owner and shall be held
in such escrow for a maximum period of two years or until such earlier
time as the owner shall make a claim with the municipality for such.
Failure of the owner to claim such balance within the two-year period
shall automatically result in a forfeiture of such balance to the
municipality. Any interest accrued or earned on such balance while
being held in escrow shall belong to and shall be paid to the municipality,
whether such balance shall be paid to the owner or forfeited to the
municipality.
Foreclosure by the municipality due to violation of the regulations
governing affordable housing units shall not extinguish the restrictions
of the regulations governing affordable housing units as the same
apply to the low- and moderate-income unit. Title shall be conveyed
to the purchaser at the Sheriff's sale, subject to the restrictions
and provisions of the regulations governing the affordable housing
unit. The owner determined to be in violation of the provisions of
this plan and from whom title and possession were taken by means of
the Sheriff's sale shall not be entitled to any right of redemption.
If there are no bidders at the Sheriff's sale, or if insufficient
amounts are bid to satisfy the first purchase money mortgage and any
prior liens, the municipality may acquire title to the low- and moderate-income
unit by satisfying the first purchase money mortgage and any prior
liens and crediting the violating owner with an amount equal to the
difference between the first purchase money mortgage and any prior
liens and costs of the enforcement proceedings, including legal fees
and the maximum resale price for which the low- and moderate-income
unit could have been sold under the terms of the regulations governing
affordable housing units. This excess shall be treated in the same
manner as the excess which would have been realized from an actual
sale as previously described.
Failure of the low- and moderate-income unit to be either sold
at the Sheriff's sale or acquired by the municipality shall obligate
the owner to accept an offer to purchase from any qualified purchaser
which may be referred to the owner by the municipality, with such
offer to purchase being equal to the maximum resale price of the low-
and moderate-income unit as permitted by the regulations governing
affordable housing units.
The owner shall remain fully obligated, responsible and liable
for complying with the terms and restrictions of governing affordable
housing units until such time as title is conveyed from the owner.
Appeals from all decisions of an Administrative Agent designated
pursuant to this chapter shall be filed in writing with the Superior
Court.