[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Nutley 10-6-1970 by Ord. No. 1730 (Ch. 10 of the 1978 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Police Department — See Ch. 131.
[Amended 7-18-1972 by Ord. No. 1757; 4-1-2014 by Ord. No. 3279]
There is hereby established a Department of Consumer Protection within the Department of Public Affairs whose function it shall be to protect against unlawful activities practiced upon consumers. The Department shall enforce all applicable federal and state statutes and rules and regulations affecting consumers.
As hereinafter referred to, the following definitions shall be applicable:
INVESTIGATOR
A person authorized under this chapter to conduct inquiries into the sale or offer for sale of any goods, services or merchandise within the Township of Nutley.
PERSON
Any natural person or his legal representative, partnership, corporation, company, trust, business entity or association, or any agent, employee, salesman, partner, officer, director, member, stockholder, associate or trustee thereof.
SALE
Any transaction, including internet transactions, conducted within the Township limits wherein, for value received, a person sells or offers to sell, trade or barter any item or service.
[Amended 4-1-2014 by Ord. No. 3279]
TOWNSHIP
Township of Nutley, County of Essex, State of New Jersey.
[Amended 7-18-1972 by Ord. No. 1757; 4-1-2014 by Ord. No. 3279]
Within the Department of Consumer Protection there shall be an Investigator, and such other persons as the Director shall deem necessary. The head of the Department shall be designated and appointed by the Director of the Department of Public Affairs.
The Department of Consumer Protection shall, in addition to its other powers and duties vested in it by this chapter or any other law:
A. 
Receive, investigate and take appropriate action upon complaints or information received from citizens of the Township. "Appropriate action" is hereby deemed to include, but not to be limited to, initiation of a complaint in the Municipal Court[1] of the Township of Nutley alleging the violation of this chapter and prosecuting the alleged offender before that Court.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 34, Court, Municipal.
B. 
Create and promulgate such forms as may be necessary to the operation of the Department, which shall be given force of law by the Judge of the Municipal Court of the Township of Nutley.[2]
[2]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 34, Court, Municipal.
C. 
Have the authority to conduct hearings in aid of any investigation or inquiry, issue subpoenas to any person within the Township of Nutley, administer an oath or affirmation to any persons within the Township of Nutley and promulgate such rules and regulations as are deemed necessary and proper to the functioning of the Department.
D. 
All consumer complaints shall be forwarded to the Office of the New Jersey State Attorney General, as required by law.
[Added 4-1-2014 by Ord. No. 3279]
Any person who shall act, use or attempt to use any deception, false pretense, fraud, misrepresentation or false promise, or who shall knowingly conceal, omit or suppress any material fact with the intent that other persons rely on such concealment, omission or suppression as a part of or in connection with the sale, attempt to sell or advertisement of any goods, services or merchandise of any kind, whether or not any person has in fact been damaged, misled or deceived thereby, is hereby declared to be an unlawful person and subject to the punishment prescribed in this chapter.
Nothing contained in this chapter shall be applicable to the owner or publisher of newspapers, magazines, publications or printed matter in which such advertisement appears, nor to the owner or operator of any radio or television station which broadcasts such advertisement, when the owner, publisher or operator has no knowledge of the intent or purpose of the advertiser, and further provided that nothing herein contained shall apply to any advertisement which is subject to the statutes, rules and regulations administered by the Federal Trade Commission.
[Amended 4-1-2014 by Ord. No. 3279]
The person appointed to the position as Investigator shall be provided with official credentials indicating his/her position, and this document shall be carried at all times on his/her person and shall constitute his/her authority to conduct inquiries, inspections and investigations into all aspects of sales, attempts to sell, advertising or merchandising of goods and services within the Township of Nutley.
Any person who violates or fails to comply with any of the terms of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be liable to a penalty of a fine not exceeding $500 or imprisonment for any term not exceeding 90 days, or both. Each sale or offer to sell, as herein defined, shall constitute a separate offense and, upon conviction, shall subject the violator to a separate penalty for each offense.