The Municipal Housing Liaison has been approved by the Court, and
meets the requirements for qualifications, including initial and periodic
training, found in N.J.A.C. 5:93 and 5:96.
The Municipal Housing Liaison shall be responsible for oversight
and administration of the affordable housing program for the Borough
of Haddonfield, including the following responsibilities, which may
not be contracted out to the Administrative Agent:
Serving as the Borough'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 as offered or approved
by the Superior Court.
The Borough shall designate by resolution of the Borough Commissioners,
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, UHAC and this chapter.
Each Administrative Agent shall be an independent entity serving
under contract to and reporting to the Borough. The Municipal Housing
Liaison shall supervise the work of the Administrative Agent(s).
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 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 Superior Court.
The Operating Manual(s) shall be available for public inspection in
the Office of the Borough Clerk and in the office(s) of the Administrative
Agent(s).
The Administrative Agent(s) 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 UHAC, and including those set forth in N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.14,
16 and 18 thereof, which include:
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 Haddonfield 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 Appendices
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 Haddonfield when referring households
for certification to affordable units; and
Notifying the following entities of the availability of affordable
housing units in the Borough of Haddonfield: Fair Share Housing Center;
the Latino Action Network; Willingboro NAACP; Southern Burlington
County NAACP; the Supportive Housing Association; and the New Jersey
Housing Resource Center.
Furnishing to attorneys or closing agents forms of deed restrictions
and mortgages for the 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 filed properly with the Camden
County Register of Deeds or Camden 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 rerental;
Instituting and maintaining an effective means of communicating
information to very-low-, low-, or moderate-income households regarding
the availability of restricted units for resale or rerental.
Reviewing and approving requests to increase sales prices from
owners of restricted units who wish to refinance or take out home
equity loans 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
ownership 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;
Creating and publishing a written operating manual for each
affordable housing program administered by the Administrative Agent,
to be approved by the Borough Commissioners and the Court, setting
forth procedures for administering the affordability controls.
The Administrative Agent(s) shall, as delegated by the Borough Commissioners,
have the authority to take all actions necessary and appropriate to
carry out its/their responsibilities, herein.
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 against the owner, developer or tenant
for any violation that remains uncured for a period of 60 days after
service of the written notice:
The municipality may file a court action in 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 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 a continuation of the
initial 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 Haddonfield 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 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- or 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-
or 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- or 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 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 they 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- or 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- or 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 that would have been realized from an actual
sale as previously described.
Failure of the low- or 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
that may be referred to the owner by the municipality, with such offer
to purchase being equal to the maximum resale price of the low- or
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 Borough.