[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council
of the Borough of Haledon as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Building Inspector — See Ch.
43, Art.
XVI.
Dangerous buildings — See Ch.
115.
Unfit buildings — See Ch.
120.
Housing standards — See Ch.
210.
Registration of property — See Ch.
278.
Real estate practices — See Ch.
288.
Rooming houses — See Ch.
309.
[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. 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. 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.
[Adopted 3-23-2023 by Ord. No. 2-23-2023]
It shall be unlawful for any owner of a business, owner of a
rental unit or units, or the owner of a multifamily home of four or
fewer units, one of which owner occupied, to operate within the Borough
of Haledon without first registering its certificate of insurance
demonstrating compliance with Section 1 of P.L. 2022, c. 92 and paying
the registration fee required herein.
The following entities are required to register their certificate
of insurance under this article:
A. Businesses, which shall mean, any person intending to sell or dispose
of or to offer to sell or dispose of any goods, wares, merchandise
or render any services for fees within the Borough. This shall include
businesses operating on a temporary basis within the Borough such
as peddlers, solicitors, and transient vendors licensed and temporary
retail food establishments and mobile food units.
B. Owners of single rental dwelling units.
C. Owners of multiple dwelling rental units.
D. Owners of multifamily homes that include rental units, even where
one unit is owner-occupied.
The Municipal Clerk or his or her designee shall accept, approve,
and file registration applications, and collect registration fees
hereunder.
The registration fee for each business or rental unit under
this article shall be in accordance with the current municipal fee
resolution. Registration shall expire on December 31 of each year.
Renewals must be submitted by December 1 of each year. Upon adoption
of this article, entities covered under this article shall be required
to initially register by March 31, 2023 and such registration shall
be valid until December 31, 2023.
An application for a business insurance registration shall be
accompanied by the required fee and shall be made to the Borough Technical
Assistant to the Construction Official or his or her designee upon
forms provided by the Technical Assistant to the Construction Official
or his or her designee. The application shall contain the following
information:
A. Name and address of the applicant. If the applicant is a corporation,
the name and address of its registered agent.
B. The address of the rental dwelling units or business as applicable.
If the registration applies to a transient business or a mobile food
unit, a general description of the time frame for operation and area
where the business will be operated.
C. A description of the nature of the business and the goods, property
or services to be sold or supplied.
D. A certificate of insurance reflecting the following amounts of insurance
in compliance with P.L. 2022, c. 92.
(1) Except as provided in Subsection
D(2) of this section, the owner of a business or the owner of a rental unit or units shall maintain liability insurance for negligent acts and omissions in an amount of no less than $500,000 for combined property damage and bodily injury to or death of one or more persons in any one accident or occurrence.
(2) The owner of a multifamily home which is four or fewer units, one
of which is owner-occupied, shall maintain liability insurance for
negligent acts and omissions in an amount of no less than $300,000
for combined property damage and bodily injury to or death of one
or more persons in any one accident or occurrence.
Any person who violates the terms of this article shall pay
the license fee plus a fine of not less than $500 but no more than
$5,000 plus court costs.