[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Haledon
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 9-12-1990 by Ord.
No. 8-8-90A (Ch. 167, Art. I, of the 1984 Code); amended 7-14-1999
by Ord. No. 6-9-99; 4-19-2007 by Ord.
No. 3-22-2007C]
No person shall charge, demand, receive or accept any rent or other payment for the use or occupancy of any residential premises within the Borough of Haledon which is used or occupied in violation of Chapter 405, Zoning. Each such change, demand, receipt or acceptance of such rent or other payment in violation hereof shall constitute a separate offense.
Within 10 days following receipt of a notice to abate an unlawful occupancy
in violation of the Zoning Ordinance of the Borough of Haledon or within 10
days following the receipt of a summons for violation of this article or the
Zoning Ordinance of the Borough of Haledon or prior to the institution of
dispossess proceedings to correct an illegal occupancy, whichever first occurs,
the owner of residential premises within the Borough of Haledon shall serve
upon all of the unlawful occupants using or occupying said residential premises
a copy of this article and shall post a copy of this article in a common area
of the premises accessible to all the occupants thereof for inspection.
[Added ]
Any tenant who receives a notice of eviction pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.2
that results from zoning or code enforcement activity for an illegal occupancy,
as set forth herein, shall be considered a displaced person and shall be entitled
to relocation assistance in an amount equal to six times the monthly rental
paid by the displaced person. The owner-landlord of the structure shall be
liable for the payment of relocation assistance pursuant to this section.
The Borough may pay relocation assistance to any displaced person who
has not received the required payment from the owner-landlord of the structure
at the time of eviction as set forth herein from a Revolving Relocation Assistance
Fund established pursuant N.J.S.A. 20:4-4. All relocation assistance costs
incurred by the Borough pursuant to this section shall be repaid by the owner-landlord
of the structure to the Borough in the same manner as relocation costs are
billed and collected under N.J.S.A. 20:4-4.1 and N.J.S.A. 20:4-4.2. These
repayments shall be deposited into the Borough's Revolving Relocation Assistance
Fund.
In addition to requiring reimbursement from the owner-landlord of the
structure for relocation assistance paid to a displaced tenant, the owner-landlord
may be fined for zoning or housing code violations for an illegal occupancy,
up to an amount equal to six times the monthly rental paid by the displaced
person, to be paid to the Borough by the owner-landlord of the structure.
In all cases, any work conducted in a rental property without obtaining proper
building permits shall be removed.
A.Â
In addition to this penalty, the Borough, after affording
the owner-landlord an opportunity for a hearing on the matter, may impose
upon the owner-landlord, for a second or subsequent violation for an illegal
occupancy, a fine equal to the annual tuition cost of any resident of the
illegally occupied unit attending a public school, which fine shall be recovered
in a civil action by summary proceeding in the name of the Borough pursuant
to the Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999, N.J.S.A. 2A:58-10 et seq. The Municipal
Court and the Superior Court shall have jurisdiction of proceedings for the
enforcement of the penalty by this section. This tuition cost shall be determined
in the manner prescribed for nonresident pupils pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:38-19,
and the payment of the fine shall be remitted to the appropriate school district.
B.Â
For the purposes of this section, the owner-landlord
of a structure shall exclude mortgagees in possession of a structure through
foreclosure. For the purposes of this section, a "second or subsequent violation
for an illegal occupancy" shall be limited to those violations that are new
and are a result of distinct and separate zoning or code enforcement activities
and shall not include any continuing violations for which citations are issued
by a zoning or code enforcement agent during the time period required for
a summary dispossession proceeding to conclude if the owner has initiated
eviction proceedings in a court of proper jurisdiction.
The Borough may provide by resolution that where a tenant residing in
a structure of two dwelling units or more is displaced from his dwelling by
fire or other emergency and the damage resulting from the fire or other emergency,
in the judgment of the housing inspector or other official charged with equivalent
responsibility, is such as to render the dwelling uninhabitable, the tenant
shall be deemed a displaced person under the Relocation Assistance Act and
shall be eligible for relocation assistance as afforded persons displaced
as a result of code enforcement activities. State appropriations of relocation
assistance shall not be used for this purpose unless specifically permitted
by language in the annual appropriations act.
The Borough shall create a Revolving Relocation Assistance Fund to be
funded in such amount as may be determined by the Borough.
Any owner-landlord who has received notice of an additional fine for
zoning or housing code violation shall be entitled to a hearing before the
Construction Code Official or the Zoning Officer, depending upon which is
the applicable fining officer, within 10 days after notice that a fine is
intended to be imposed.
The Building Inspector of the Borough of Haledon is hereby designated
as the officer to exercise the power prescribed by this article, and he shall
serve in this capacity along with his other duties.
