City of Linwood, NJ Rental Property

A building, structure or part thereof having cooking, sleeping and sanitary facilities designed for or occupied by one family and which is entirely separated from any other dwelling unit in the building or structure in the building by vertical walls or horizontal floors, unpierced, except for access to the outside or a common cellar. The word "dwelling" shall not include boarding- or rooming houses, hotels, motels or other structures designed or used for transient residence.

[Amended 9-9-2020 by Ord. No. 10-2020]

RENTAL UNIT

Any dwelling unit which is leased or rented.

§ 212-2 Registration with Construction Official required.

All rental units shall be registered with the Construction Official or his designee within 60 days of the effective date of this section. Such registration shall occur on an annual basis as provided herein.

§ 212-3 Registration form.

Every owner shall file with the Construction Official or his designee a registration form for each rental unit contained within a building or structure which shall include the following information:

Address of the premises, description of the rental unit or units, apartments and/or dwelling units. The name and address of the owner or owners of record of the premises and the owner or owners of record and the name and address of the superintendent or agent in charge if not the same person(s). In the case of a partnership, the names, addresses and telephone numbers shall be provided for each of such individuals indicating where such individual may be reached both during the day and evening hours.

Specifications of each rental unit, including the exact number of sleeping rooms contained in the rental unit and the exact number of sleeping accommodations contained in each of the sleeping rooms. Identify each sleeping room by number and location within the apartment or dwelling and by the square footage thereof. To satisfy the requirements of this provision, an owner or his agent shall submit a floor plan which shall become a part of the application and shall be attached to the registration form when filed with the Construction Official or his designee.

Other information may be prescribed by the City.

At the time of the filing of the registration form referred to in this chapter, or at the time of any registration amendment due to tenant turnover, every owner shall present to the Code Enforcement Officer notice of the last tenant turnover date, as well as a valid lead-based paint evaluation report prepared by a certified lead evaluation contractor as set forth in Subsection G below. Should the owner fail to provide such a report within 30 days of filing, the City shall have said inspection performed with the City's cost for same to be assessed against the landlord's rental property as a municipal lien.

[Added 9-28-2022 by Ord. No. 13-2022]

Should the evaluation report identify lead-based hazards, then the owner shall remediate the hazards through abatement or lead-based hazard control mechanisms. The remediation shall be confirmed through a subsequent lead-based hazard inspection. The identification of a lead-based hazard will result in the City, or the inspector retained to conduct such inspections, providing notification of same to the Commissioner of Community Affairs.

[Added 9-28-2022 by Ord. No. 13-2022]

If there are no findings of a lead-based hazard in the initial or any subsequent inspection conducted pursuant to the provisions of Subsections D and E above, the lead evaluation inspector or representative of the City shall certify the unit as lead-safe on a form prescribed by the Department of Community Affairs. This lead-safe certification shall be valid for two years. A copy of this certification shall be provided to the tenants of the unit inspected.

[Added 9-28-2022 by Ord. No. 13-2022]

Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection D above, a dwelling unit in a single-family, two-family, or rental dwelling shall not be subject to inspection and evaluation for the presence of lead-based paint hazards if the unit:

[Added 9-28-2022 by Ord. No. 13-2022]

(1)

Has been certified to be free of lead-based paint;

(2)

Has previously been inspected, and three years will not have passed before the next required registration of the property and there has not been a tenant turnover since the last inspection;

(3)

Was constructed during or after 1978;

(4)

Is in a multiple dwelling that has been registered with the Department of Community Affairs as a multiple dwelling for at least 10 years, either under the current or a previous owner, and has no outstanding lead violations from the most recent cyclical inspection performed on the multiple dwelling under the Hotel and Multiple Dwelling Law, N.J.S.A. 55:13A-1 et seq.

(5)

Has a valid lead-safe certification issued pursuant to Subsection D above.

Pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 52:27D-437.16, unless a unit owner demonstrates that the Department of Community Affairs has already assessed an additional inspection fee of $20, a fee of $20 for each inspection per unit shall be paid by the owner at the time of the registration of the unit. Said fee shall be deposited by the City into the Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund established pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:27D-437.4.

[Added 9-28-2022 by Ord. No. 13-2022]

§ 212-4 Annual registration required; terms.

[Amended 11-24-2015 by Ord. No. 11-2015]

Each rental unit shall be registered annually. The registration term shall commence on January 1 of each year, and such registration shall be valid until January 15 of the following year, at which time it shall expire and a new registration shall occur. Any lease which has been executed prior to the adoption of this chapter shall not be affected, but the rental unit must nevertheless be registered and inspected in accordance with this chapter. No rental unit shall hereafter be rented unless the rental unit is registered in accordance with this chapter.

§ 212-5 Inspections.

All rental units are required to be inspected whenever there is a change of occupant or every two years, whichever shall first occur.

Such inspections shall be for the purpose of determining Zoning Ordinance compliance and to the extent applicable, to determine if the property complies with the BOCA Property Maintenance Code, Building Codes and/or the Uniform Fire Safety Act, to ensure the dwelling is fit for human habitation, and has no life or safety hazards.[1]

[1]

Editor's Note: See Ch. 277, Zoning; Ch. 205, Property Maintenance; Ch. 119, Construction Codes, Uniform; and Ch. 152, Fire Prevention.

§ 212-6 Fees.

[Amended 11-24-2015 by Ord. No. 11-2015; 2-24-2021 by Ord. No. 2-2021; 10-27-2021 by Ord. No. 19-2021]

At the time of registration, the owner or his agent shall pay a registration fee in the amount of $125 for each rental unit, and the fee for all renewals shall be $75.

§ 212-7 Unsatisfactory inspection.

In the event that the inspection(s) of a rental unit does not result in a satisfactory inspection, such property shall not thereafter be registered nor shall a license be issued. The owner of the property or his agent shall not lease or rent such property nor shall any tenant occupy the property until the necessary corrections have been made so as to bring the property and rental unit into compliance with the applicable code and the property is thereafter subsequently registered and licensed. In the event that the property is occupied when such conditions are discovered, all such corrections shall be made within 60 days. In the event that said codes do not specify a date by which corrections shall be made, all corrections then shall be made within 30 days from the date of notification of the failed inspection. If corrections are not made within that time period, the owner shall be deemed in violation of this chapter, and every day that the violation continues shall constitute a separate offense. If at the time an inspection occurs and an unsatisfactory condition is found, and it is deemed to be an imminent hazard as determined by the inspecting agency, then that inspecting agency shall have the right to cause immediate vacation of the property in order to protect the occupant/tenant from any imminent hazard within the unit as inspected.

In the event that a regularly scheduled rental inspection must be postponed by either the tenant or property owner, then such cancellation shall occur at least two hours prior to the scheduled inspection. Cancellation shall be accomplished by contacting the Code Enforcement office via telephone, email, in writing or in person. At the time of cancellation, a new inspection date and time may be scheduled; however, if not scheduled at the time of cancellation, then a new inspection date and time must be scheduled with the Code Enforcement office within 15 days of cancellation. Failure to cancel a scheduled rental inspection, which causes inspectors to arrive at the property at the scheduled time and date only to be met with no answer, a refusal to answer or a refusal to allow entry to conduct the scheduled inspection shall constitute a violation of this section. Failure to reschedule a rental inspection as prescribed above shall also constitute a violation of this section. Any person or persons who violate any portion of this section shall be subject to the penalties prescribed under § 212-12 of this chapter.

[Added 10-27-2021 by Ord. No. 19-2021]

§ 212-8 Prohibitions on occupancy.

No person shall hereafter occupy any rental unit, nor shall the owner permit occupancy of any rental unit within the City of Linwood, which is not registered and licensed in accordance with this chapter.

§ 212-9 Certificate of continued occupancy.

No agent, agent of an owner, real estate agent or broker, firm, company, partnership, corporation or person or persons shall sell, rent, transfer, grant, lease, let, mortgage with right of occupancy or otherwise dispose of the ownership or occupancy, whether or not for a consideration and whether such disposal or occupancy is temporary or permanent, of any dwelling unit or apartment, unless a certificate of occupancy certifying that said dwelling unit or apartment is fit for human habitation and that said dwelling unit or apartment is in compliance with all ordinances of the City of Linwood has been issued. The certificate of occupancy must first be obtained from the Construction Official or his designee who is authorized to issue a certificate of occupancy upon inspection and approval by the Construction Official or his designee within 10 days from the date of the filing of the application for same.

At the time of inspection of each dwelling unit or apartment prior to the issuance of said certificate of occupancy, the Construction Official or his designee shall post, in a conspicuous place in said apartment or dwelling, a notice stating the number of persons which shall be permitted to occupy said apartment or dwelling as residents therein, pursuant to the City of Linwood Code. In no event shall residency in excess of said posted number be exceeded by either the landlord or the tenant. For the purpose of determining residency, any person who sleeps upon the premises or generally dwells therein for more than three successive days or nights shall be considered to be residing on the premises.

§ 212-10 Limitations on occupancy.

Each licensee granted a license pursuant to this chapter shall be permitted to lease or rent the rental unit which has been registered and for which a license has been granted hereunder to a number of registered tenants, which number shall not exceed the number which has been computed in accordance with the following:

Every room occupied for sleeping purposes by one occupant shall contain at least 70 square feet of floor area, and every room occupied for sleeping purposes by more than one person shall contain at least 50 square feet of floor area for each occupant thereof.

Rental units shall not be occupied by more occupants than permitted by the minimum occupancy area requirements of the table hereinafter set forth:

Number of Occupants	1	2	3	4
Minimum Square Feet per Sleeping Room	70 sf	100 sf	150 sf	200 sf
Kitchen	50 sf	50 sf	50 sf	50 sf
Living Room	No requirement	No requirement	120 sf	120 sf
Dining Room	No requirement	No requirement	80 sf	80 sf

§ 212-11 Payment of taxes and charges required.

No rental unit, apartment and/or dwelling unit shall be issued a certificate of occupancy unless all municipal taxes, sewerage and other municipal assessments are paid on a current basis.

§ 212-12 Violations and penalties.

Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction in the Municipal Court of the City of Linwood or such other court having jurisdiction, be liable for a fine of not less than $250 and not more than $1,000 or imprisonment of a term not exceeding 90 days or by a period of community service not exceeding 90 days or any combination of the above.