[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of Manchester 8-27-2007 by Ord. No. 07-043; amended in its entirety 8-14-2023 by Ord. No. 23-20. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
There is hereby established a fee and procedure for landlord registration for the Township of Manchester.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
LANDLORD
He of whom lands or tenements are holden. The owner of an estate in land, or a rental property, who has leased it to another person, called the "tenant," also called "lessor," regardless of whether the landlord receives monetary compensation for the said rental property.
The landlord registration shall be established as follows:
A. 
All landlords within the Township of Manchester shall file a landlord registration statement, on a form promulgated by the Township, with the Department of Inspections, Land Use and Planning, for each rental property.
B. 
Landlord registrations are to be filed for each rental unit. The registration fee shall be $100 for each rental property, which shall be paid annually.
C. 
A license fee shall be paid in advance to the Township, due no later than January 31 of each year. The license shall be valid until December 31 of each year.
D. 
The license shall be renewed annually by submitting a renewal application along with the required fee and any updated information pertaining to the rental unit, including but not limited to a change in tenancy.
E. 
Upon any change in tenancy, the landlord must update tenant information on file with the Township Department of Inspections, Land Use and Planning, within 20 days of the change and obtain a new rental certificate of occupancy as outlined in Article II.
F. 
When a property is owned by an LLC, the registered agent of the said LLC shall be required to submit a copy of the driver's license with the application.
A. 
No person, group of persons, association, partnership, business or corporation, or any combination thereof, who owns, manages, conducts or operates a dwelling unit shall rent, lease, let, sublet or permit the same to be occupied or rerented by another without first securing from the Township Construction Official or his/her designee a certificate of occupancy for said dwelling unit, regardless of whether the landlord receives monetary compensation for the said rental property. This article specifically applies to all rental dwelling units, which include, but are not limited to, apartments as well as privately owned houses, duplexes, condominiums and townhouses in the Township.
B. 
Purpose. Inspections of rental dwelling units are conducted to protect the public health, safety and welfare of the Township and its residents, while improving rental housing conditions within the Township.
C. 
Fees. The fee for a certificate of occupancy shall be in accordance with § 179-10.
A. 
No certificate of occupancy shall be issued for the rental of a dwelling unit unless the condition of the unit complies with one or more of the following:
(1) 
Township-adopted residential property maintenance code;
(2) 
New Jersey State Housing Code (N.J.A.C. 5:28);
(3) 
New Jersey Uniform Construction Code;[1] and
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.A.C. 5:23-1 et seq.
(4) 
New Jersey Hotels and Multiple Dwellings Act (N.J.S.A. 55:13A-12). The scope of the inspection of the dwelling unit for a certificate of occupancy shall include the interior and exterior of the property and all common areas.
B. 
Certificates shall be valid for a two-year period unless there is a changeover in tenancy prior to the expiration of the applicable two-year period.
A rental housing inspection checklist shall be prepared by and maintained at the Township Building Department. All violations shall be cited from the appropriately adopted code or regulation.
A "dwelling unit" shall be defined as a single unit providing complete, independent living facilities for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation.
For allowable occupant loads for any rental structure or unit, the load shall be defined by the applicable Township-adopted residential property maintenance code.
All inspections for a rental housing certificate of occupancy shall be conducted by the Manchester Township Building Inspector or his/her designee.
Any individual person, group of persons, association, partnership, business or corporation, or any combination thereof, shall be subject to a fine not less than $100 and not more than $500 and/or a term of imprisonment for not more than 30 days and/or up to 90 days community service for each day each dwelling unit is occupied without a certificate of occupancy.
The Township shall not be liable to any person or entity by reason of the inspections required by this article or the issuance of a rental housing certificate of occupancy. The issuance of a rental housing certificate of occupancy by the Township of Manchester is not a warranty or guarantee that there are no defects in the non-owner occupied residential dwelling or unit. The inspection of the land use, exterior and interior of the dwelling unit is limited to visual inspection only. The Township does not guarantee or approve, and shall not be responsible for, defects not noted in any inspection report or for any latent, structural or mechanical defects thereto.