[Adopted by Ord. No. 2002-27 (Sec. 11-6 of the 1987 Revised General Ordinances)]
The purpose of this article is to insure that residential rental
units are properly maintained in accordance with the Property Maintenance
and related codes, as well as to protect the property and the health,
safety and welfare of Borough residents. To this end, the article
shall be liberally construed to assure the provision of decent and
safe units of dwelling space as follows.
Unless the context clearly indicates a different meaning, the
following words or phrases when used in this article shall have the
following meaning:
The individual or individuals designated by the owner as
the person(s) authorized by the owner to perform any duty imposed
upon the owner by this section. The term does not necessarily mean
a licensed real estate broker or salesman of the State of New Jersey
as those terms are defined by N.J.S.A. 45:15-3; however, such term
may include a licensed real estate broker or salesman of the State
of New Jersey if such person is designated by the owner as the owner's
agent.
Two or more buildings, each containing two or more apartments/condominiums/townhouses
which are located within close proximity of each other and are owned
by the same owner.
Any apartment, condominium, townhouse, bungalow, cooperative,
cottage or any room or rooms in a rooming/boarding house or in any
other dwelling unit consisting of one or more rooms occupying all
or part of a floor or floors in a building, whether designed with
or without housekeeping facilities for dwelling purposes and notwithstanding
whether the apartment be designed for residence, for office, or the
operation of any industry or business, or for any other type of independent
use.
The Construction Official of the Borough of Red Bank.
Any person or group of persons, firm, corporation, limited-liability
company, association, trust, any type of partnership, or other entity,
who owns, operates, exercises control over or is in charge of a rental
facility.
An individual, firm, corporation, partnership, association,
trust or other legal entity, or any combination thereof.
Every building, group of buildings or a portion thereof which
is kept, used, maintained, advertised or held out to be a place where
living accommodations are supplied, whether furnished or unfurnished,
for pay or other consideration, to one or more individuals and is
meant to include apartments and apartment complexes.
A dwelling unit which is available for lease or rental purposes
and is meant to include a dwelling unit offered for lease or rental,
including but not limited to one-family homes, two-family homes, three-family
homes, etc. as well as individual apartments/condominiums/townhouses
located within apartment, condominium or townhouse complexes.
A.
Each and every rental unit shall hereafter be registered with the
Construction Official on forms which shall be provided for that purpose
and which shall be obtained from the office of the Construction Official.
The initial registration shall occur as follows:
|
Number of Rental Units
|
Initial Registration to be Completed
| |
|---|---|---|
|
For properties with 1 through 25 rental units
|
On or before March 1, 2003
| |
|
For properties with 26 or more rental units
|
On or before June 1, 2003
|
B.
Such registration shall be renewed and amended upon each change of
ownership, or occupant(s) of any rental unit and shall be a prerequisite
to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy. No rental unit shall
be hereafter be rented unless the rental unit is registered in accordance
with this article. This registration does not constitute an approval
for the use and occupancy of said unit. A certificate of occupancy
is required for each unit.
[Amended 6-25-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-27]
Every owner of a rental unit shall file with the Construction
Official of the Borough of Red Bank a registration form for each unit
contained within a building or structure, which shall include the
following information:
A.
The name and address of each record owner or owners of the premises
and each record owner or owners of the rental business if not the
same persons. In the case of a partnership, the names and address
of all general partners shall be provided together with the telephone
numbers for each of such individuals indicating where such individual
may be reached both during the day and evening hours. If the record
owner is a corporation, the name and address of the registered agent
and all corporate officers of said corporation together with the telephone
numbers for each of such individuals indicating where such individual
may be reached both during the day and evening hours. If the record
owner is a limited liability company, the name and address of the
person(s) designated in the operating agreement together with the
telephone numbers for such individual(s) indicating where such individual(s)
may be reached both during the day and evening hours;
B.
If the address of any record owner is not located in Red Bank, the
name and address of a person who resides in Monmouth County who is
authorized to accept notices from a tenant or a Borough representative
and to issue receipts therefor and to accept service of process on
behalf of the record owner;
C.
The name and address and telephone numbers of the agent of the premises
indicating where such individual may be reached both during the day
and evening hours;
D.
The name and telephone numbers, including the dwelling unit number
of the superintendent, janitor, custodian or other individual employed
by the owner or agent to provide regular maintenance service, if any.
For each such individual, a statement as to where such individual
may be reached both during the day and evening hours;
E.
The name, address and telephone number of an individual representative
of the owner or agent who may be reached or contacted at any time
in the event of an emergency affecting the premises or any unit of
dwelling space therein, including such emergencies as the failure
of any essential service or system, and who has the authority to make
emergency decisions concerning the building and any repair thereto
or expenditure in connection therewith;
F.
The name and address of every holder of a recorded mortgage on the
premises;
G.
If fuel oil or natural gas is used to heat the building and the landlord
furnishes the heat in the building, the name and address of the fuel
oil or natural gas dealer servicing the building and the grade of
fuel oil or natural gas used;
H.
As to each rental unit, a specification of the exact number of sleeping
rooms contained in the rental unit. In order to satisfy the requirement
of this provision, an owner shall submit a floor plan outlining and
identifying each room in the unit, including the dimensions and floor
location of each room, which shall become a part of the application
and which shall be attached to the registration form when filed with
the Construction Official;
I.
Such other information as may be required by the Borough;
J.
All addresses must include the full accurate street address; P.O.
box and like information does not satisfy this requirement;
K.
The name, age and gender, including children, of every tenant of
record as to each rental unit. The information contained in the registration
form must set forth information for each rental unit within the rental
property and must include all tenants in each rental unit. This information
shall be available only to the Construction Official. This information
shall otherwise remain confidential and shall not be available to
the public.
The Construction Official shall file with the Borough Clerk
a copy of the registration form, except for the information as to
the names of the tenants of record and occupants, which information
shall be kept in a confidential file in the office of the Construction
Official. The Borough Clerk shall index and file the registration
forms. In doing so, the Borough Clerk or designee shall follow the
mandates of N.J.S.A. 46:8-28.1, as amended and supplemented, so that
the filing of the registration form will simultaneously satisfy the
registration requirements of N.J.S.A. 46:8-28 to the extent that it
applies to the property being registered and will also satisfy the
registration requirements of this article.
[Amended 6-25-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-27]
Every person required to file a registration form pursuant to
this article shall file an amended registration form within five business
days of any change in the information required to be included thereon,
except in the case of any change of occupant(s) to a dwelling, in
which case, an amended registration form shall be a prerequisite to
the issuance of a new certificate of occupancy.
A.
Renal units shall be inspected by persons or agencies duly authorized
by the Borough for inspections. Such inspection(s) shall be for the
purpose of determining Zoning Ordinance compliance, and to the extent
applicable, to determine if the rental facility complies with all
laws including the Property Maintenance Code, Uniform Construction
Code, Health Code, Housing Code, and Fire Code.
B.
Unsatisfactory inspection. In the event that the inspection(s) of a rental unit does not result in a satisfactory inspection under the codes, the owner or agent shall cause all necessary repairs or corrections to be made within the time prescribed by the applicable code, and if not made within that time period, the owner shall be deemed in violation of this article, and every day that the violation continues shall constitute a separate and distinct violation subject to the penalty provisions of § 523-24 of this article.
A.
All rental facilities, rental units, rooming houses and boarding
houses subject to this article are subject to inspections to determine
their condition in order to safeguard the health, safety and welfare
of the occupants of such rental facilities, rental units, rooming
houses and boarding houses and of the general public. At the time
of such inspections, all rooms in the rental facilities, rental units,
rooming houses and boarding houses shall be available and accessible
for such inspections, and the owner, operator and occupant are required
to provide the necessary arrangements to facilitate such inspections.
Such inspections shall be made between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., with
the consent of the occupant, who is of legal age to grant such consent,
or with an administrative warrant, unless there is reason to believe
that a violation exists of a character which is an immediate threat
to health or safety, requiring inspection and abatement without delay
or where the time taken to apply for and secure the issuance of a
warrant would render ineffective the immediate action necessary to
abate the condition. Inspection officers shall make reasonable attempts
to obtain consent of the occupant prior to application for an administrative
warrant.
B.
Every occupant shall give the owner of the rental facility, rental
unit, rooming house and boarding house access to any part of such
rental facility, rental unit, rooming house and boarding house in
compliance with any prior arrangements for such action the tenant
and owner established, including provision of any lease entered into
by the parties. Should the parties not have a written lease, prior
agreement regarding such course of action or any written lease is
silent regarding such measure, then the tenant shall provide access
at all reasonable times for the purpose of making such repairs and
alteration as are necessary to effect compliance with the provisions
of this article, other Borough ordinances, or any lawful order issued
pursuant thereto.
C.
Complaints. If a complaint alleging a violation of this article is
received by the Borough, the inspecting officer shall use his diligent
and best efforts to conduct an inspection as hereinabove provided
within 10 days of the receipt of the complaint.
Inspection officers shall be supplied with official identification
and shall exhibit such identification when entering any rental facility,
rental unit, rooming house and boarding house or any part of any premises
subject to this article. Inspectors shall conduct themselves so as
to avoid intentional embarrassment or inconvenience to occupants.
A.
The inspection officer may, upon affidavit, apply to the Judge of
the Municipal Court of the Borough for a search warrant, setting forth
factually the actual conditions and circumstances that provide a reasonable
basis for believing that a nuisance or violation of this section may
exist on the premises, including one or more of the following:
(1)
The premises require inspection according to the cycle established
by the Borough for periodic inspections of premises of the type involved.
(2)
Observation of the external condition of the premises and its public
areas has resulted in the belief that violations of this article exist.
(3)
Circumstances such as age of building, type of building, particular
use of premises or other factors indicate that inspections of such
building are desirable in the interest of public health and safety.
B.
If the Judge of the Municipal Court of the Borough is satisfied as
to the matter set forth in such affidavit, he shall authorize the
issuance of a search warrant permitting access to an inspection of
that part of the premises on which the nuisance or violation may exist.
Warrant for access may be issued by the Judge of the Municipal Court
upon affidavit of the inspections officer establishing reasonable
grounds therefor.
C.
Where the inspection officer or his agent, in possession of an administrative
warrant, is refused entry or access or is otherwise impeded or prevented
by the owner, occupant or operator from conducting an inspection of
the premises, such person shall be in violation of this article and
subject to the penalties hereunder.
No person shall hereafter occupy any rental unit, nor shall
the owner permit occupancy of any rental unit within the Borough of
Red Bank unless the rental unit is registered in accordance with this
article.
At the time of the filing of the registration form, the owner
or agent of the owner must pay a registration fee of $50 per unit
but not to exceed $5,000 per property or apartment complex. If the
owner of the property is a senior citizen (age 65 years or older)
who resides in a unit of the property and rents out the remaining
units and would otherwise qualify under the State of New Jersey property
tax deductions under N.J.S.A. 54:4-8.41, there shall be no fee. After
the initial registration, the fee for an amended registration is $20
per unit, but not to exceed $2,000 per annum per property or apartment
complex.
Every owner shall provide each occupant or tenant occupying
a rental unit with a copy of the registration form required by this
article. This particular provision shall not apply to any hotel, motel,
or guesthouse registered with the State of New Jersey pursuant to
the Hotel and Multiple Dwelling Act in accordance with N.J.S.A. 55:13A-1
et seq.
A.
The maximum number of occupants shall be posted in a conspicuous area within each rental unit, on a form to be provided by the Borough, by the owner of each rental unit. It shall be unlawful for any person, including the owner, agent or tenant, to allow a greater number of persons than the posted maximum number of occupants to sleep or occupy the rental unit. Any person violating this provision shall be subject to the penalty provisions of § 523-24 of this article.
B.
Only those occupants whose names are on file with the Borough as required in this article may reside in the registered premises. It shall be unlawful for any other person to reside in said premises and any person, including the owner, agent or the tenant allowing a nonregistered party to reside in said premises shall be in violation of this article and shall be subject to the penalty provisions of § 523-24 of this article.
A.
Occupants. Only those occupants whose names are on file with the
Construction Official as provided
in this article may reside in the registered premises. It shall be
unlawful for any other person to reside in said premises, and this
provision may be enforced against the landlord, tenant, or other person
residing in said premises.
B.
Nuisance prohibited. No rental facility shall be conducted or maintained
in a manner to constitute a nuisance.
C.
Compliance with other laws. The maintenance of all rental facilities
and the conduct engaged in upon the premises by occupants and their
guests shall at all times be in full compliance with all applicable
ordinances and regulations of the Borough and with all applicable
state and federal laws including, but not limited to, relocation assistance
laws.
[Amended by Ord. No. 2004-37]
A.
Any person who violates any provision of this article shall, upon conviction in the Municipal Court of the Borough of Red Bank or such other court having jurisdiction, be liable to a fine as provided in Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article II, General Penalty. The minimum penalty that shall be imposed for a violation of this article is a $500 fine. Each day that a violation occurs shall be deemed a separate and distinct violation subject to the penalty provisions of this section.[1]
B.
Any person who is convicted of violating this article within one
year of the date of a previous violation of the same section and who
was fined for the previous violation, shall be sentenced by a court
to an additional fine as a repeat offender. The additional fine imposed
by the court upon a person for a repeated offense shall not be less
than the minimum or exceed the maximum fine fixed for a violation
of the article, but shall be calculated separately from the fine imposed
for the violation of the article.
