It is the purpose and intent of the Township Committee to protect
the health, safety, and welfare of the residents of Pennsauken Township
and to ensure owners and occupants share responsibility to prevent
and avoid nuisances in the Township. The purpose of this article is
to identify rental property in the Township of Pennsauken, to ensure
that such properties afford tenants a safe and decent place to dwell,
and to require rental property with substandard conditions to meet
and maintain minimum building and housing code standards and exterior
maintenance standards and to reduce criminal activity. The Pennsauken
Township Committee has determined that requiring that all rental properties
be registered with the Township and inspected serves these legitimate
governmental interests.
[Amended 9-5-2018 by Ord.
No. 2018:16]
A. Any person, firm, association or corporation violating any of the
provisions of this article shall, upon conviction, be subject to one
or more of the following: a fine of not less than $500, but not exceeding
$2,000, and/or imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding
90 days, and/or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days,
in the discretion of the Municipal Court Judge.
B. Any person, firm, association or corporation who is convicted of
violating this article within one year of the date of a previous violation
and who was fined for the previous violation shall be sentenced by
the court to an additional fine as a repeat offender. The additional
fine imposed by the court upon a person, firm, association or corporation
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.
C. If the rental property is not registered, or either the registration
fee or the renewal fee is not paid within 30 days of when the registration
or renewal is required pursuant to this article, a late fee equivalent
to 10% of the registration fee shall be charged for every thirty-day
period, or portion thereof, the property is not registered and shall
be due and payable with the registration. This section shall apply
to the initial registration and registrations required by subsequent
owners of rental property. Registrations delinquent greater than 30
days are also subject to additional fines as described herein.
D. Failure of the owner of record to properly register or to modify
the registration to reflect a change of circumstances as required
by this article is a violation of this article and shall be subject
to enforcement by any of the enforcement means available to the Township
of Pennsauken.
E. If any property is in violation of this article, the Township may
take the necessary action to ensure compliance with and place a lien
on the property for the cost of the outstanding obligation and any
additional cost incurred to bring the property into compliance.
F. The foregoing penalties shall be in addition to any other penalty
provided in this article and shall be in addition to those penalties
set forth in N.J.S.A. 46:8-35.