[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Garfield 3-27-2001
by Ord. No. 2305 (Ch. 203 of the 1979 Code). Amendments noted
where applicable.]
Any tenant who receives a notice of eviction pursuant to Section 3 of
P.L. 1974, c. 49 (N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.2) that results from zoning or code enforcement
activity for an illegal occupancy, as set forth in Paragraph (3) of Subsection
g of Section 2 of P.L. 1974, c. 49 (N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1), 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 City of Garfield 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 the eviction pursuant to § 252-1 of this chapter from a revolving relocation assistance fund established pursuant to Section 2 of P.L. 1987, c. 98 (N.J.S.A. 20:4-4.1a). All relocation assistance costs incurred by the City pursuant to this section shall be repaid by the owner-landlord of the structure to the municipality in the same manner as relocation costs are billed and collected under Section 1 of P.L. 1983, c. 536 (N.J.S.A. 20:4-4.1) and Section 1 of P.L. 1984, c. 30 (N.J.S.A. 20:4-4.2). These repayments shall be deposited into the City'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 violation 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 City of Garfield by the owner-landlord of the structure.
A.
In addition to this penalty, the City of Garfield, 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 a summary proceeding in the name of the
City of Garfield pursuant to the Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999, P.L. 1999,
c. 274 (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
provided by this section. The 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.
For the purpose of this section, the owner-landlord of
a structure shall exclude mortgagees in possession of a structure through
foreclosure. For the purpose 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
summary dispossession proceedings to conclude if the owner has initiated eviction
proceedings in a court of proper jurisdiction.
The City may provide, by resolution, that where a tenant residing in
a structure of two dwelling units or more, is displaced from his dwelling
by a 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 City of Garfield shall create a revolving relocation assistance
fund to be funded in such amount as may be determined by the City.
Any owner-landlord who has received notice that an additional fine for
zoning or housing code violation will be imposed
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 the notice that a fine is intended to be imposed.
