[Adopted 3-12-1969 (13-84 to 13-102 of the 1978 Revised General Ordinances)]
Pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 168 of the Laws of 1966
of the State of New Jersey, N.J.S.A. 2A:42-74 et seq., and in order
to implement the provisions thereof, including the provisions thereof
respecting rent receivers, the Council hereby finds, and restates
its findings previously made, that:
A.
Many citizens of the City are required to reside in multiple dwelling
units which fail to meet minimum standards of safety and sanitation
and are compelled to pay rents disproportionate to the value of the
facilities and services received.
B.
It is essential to the health, safety and general welfare of the
people of the City that owners of substandard multiple dwelling units
be encouraged to provide safe and sanitary housing accommodations
for the public to whom such accommodations are offered.
C.
It is necessary, in order to ensure the improvement of substandard
multiple dwelling units, to authorize methods to impose rent controls
on substandard multiple dwelling units until such dwelling units satisfy
minimum standards of safety and sanitation.
[Amended 2-1-1972 by Ord. No. 1925]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The Bureau of Housing in the State Department of Community
Affairs.
The City Clerk.
That portion of a multiple dwelling rented or offered for
rent for living or dwelling purposes in which cooking equipment is
supplied, and includes all privileges, services, furnishings, furniture,
equipment, facilities, and improvements connected with the use or
occupancy of such portion of the property. The term shall not mean
or include public housing or dwelling space in any hotel, motel or
established guesthouse.
Includes any building or structure and land appurtenant thereto
containing three or more dwelling units rented or offered for rent
to three or more tenants or family units.
The holder or holders of the title in fee simple and individuals,
firms and corporations having the right to lease rental units without
the consent of the holder of the fee title, but shall not include
any such individual, firm or corporation having such right with respect
to one rental unit.
All individuals, associations and corporations who have interests
of record in a multiple dwelling, and who are in actual possession
thereof, and any person authorized to receive rents payable for housing
space in a multiple dwelling.
The Chief Inspector of the City of Englewood or such other
person as the Council, by ordinance, may specifically designate.
Any multiple dwelling determined to be substandard by the public officer, based upon the standards set forth in the State Housing Code and Chapter 317, Property Maintenance, of the Code of the City of Englewood, the higher standard to control. The determination of the public officer as to the controlling standard in the event of a conflict between the two codes shall be conclusive.[1]
The State Housing Code which sets standards consistent with
minimum health and safety requirements shall be used as the standard
in the enforcement of this article.
The public officer as defined in § 325-2 is hereby designated and appointed to exercise the powers prescribed by this article.
A.
Whenever it appears by preliminary investigation that a multiple
dwelling is substandard, the public officer shall cause a complaint
to be served upon the owner of and parties in interest in such multiple
dwelling stating the reasons why said multiple dwelling is deemed
to be substandard and setting a time of not less than 15 nor more
than 25 days thereafter, and fixing a place for a hearing thereon
before the public officer. The owners and parties in interest shall
be given the right to file an answer which shall be served within
10 days after the service of the complaint, and to appear and give
testimony. The rules of evidence shall not be controlling in hearings
before the public officer. Any occupant of the dwelling in question
shall also have the right to appear and give testimony at the hearing
upon the complaint. In the event that said occupant joins in the complaint,
becoming a signatory thereto, said occupant shall have the right to
be represented by counsel.
B.
A preliminary investigation shall be completed within 15 days of
the date a charge of substandard conditions in a multiple dwelling
is made in writing to the public officer by an occupant thereof. If
the public officer decides that the multiple dwelling is not substandard,
he shall so inform the interested occupant at the completion of the
preliminary investigation. The failure of the public officer to complete
the preliminary investigation within the 15 days as aforesaid shall
not constitute a jurisdictional defect in the power of the public
officer to proceed further in accordance with this article.
A.
If, after notice and hearing, the public officer determines the multiple
dwelling under consideration is substandard, he shall state his findings
in writing 15 days after said hearing and shall forthwith issue and
cause to be served upon the owner or other person entitled to receive
said rents an order requiring that such repairs, alterations or improvements
necessary to bring such property up to minimum standards be made 30
days after said order. The public officer may permit an extension
of time upon a showing that repairs in process require additional
time for completion. If the public officer determines that said multiple
dwelling is not substandard, he shall dismiss the complaint.
B.
Copies of all findings and orders issued pursuant to this section
shall be sent to any occupant of the multiple dwelling under consideration
whose charges initiated the hearing under this article, or who subsequently
became a signatory to the complaint.
Failure to complete such repairs, alterations or improvements within the time as fixed by the public officer shall be cause to impose rent control on the substandard multiple dwelling, but such rent control shall be imposed only after a hearing held on not less than 10 days' notice to the owner at which time the public officer shall determine the fair net operating income for the multiple dwelling in accordance with § 325-8 hereof, and the public officer shall thereupon establish a maximum rent for each unit of housing space in the multiple dwelling and the effective date thereof.
In establishing maximum rents which may be charged for housing
space in a multiple dwelling subject to rent control, the permissible
rents shall be sufficient to provide the owner or other person entitled
to receive said rents with a fair net operating income from the multiple
dwelling. The net operating income shall not be considered less than
fair if it is 20% or more of the annual income in the case of a multiple
dwelling containing less than five dwelling units or is 15% or more
in the case of a multiple dwelling containing five or more dwelling
units. In determining the fair net operating income, the public officer
shall consider the following items of expense: heating fuel, utilities,
payroll, janitorial materials, real estate taxes, insurance, interior
painting and decorating, depreciation, and repairs and replacements
and additions to furniture and furnishings, which expenses shall be
deducted from the annual income derived from the multiple dwelling.
All items of expense and the amount of annual income shall be certified
by the owner or other person entitled to receive said rents on forms
provided by the public officer.
The imposition of rent control in any substandard multiple dwelling
shall not operate to impair leases existing at the time of the adoption
of the ordinance embodied in this article (March 12, 1969), but shall
take effect at the expiration of any such lease and shall remain in
effect thereafter so long as the multiple dwelling is subject to rent
control.
It shall be unlawful for any person to demand or receive any
rent in excess of the maximum rent established for housing space in
a multiple dwelling subject to rent control or to demand possession
of the space or evict a tenant for refusal to pay rent in excess of
the established maximum rent. The owner or other person entitled to
receive said rents shall not be prevented, however, from exercising
his rights to obtain possession of housing space from a tenant as
a result of the tenant's violation of law or contract; and the
owner or other person entitled to receive said rents shall be provided
reasonable grounds to obtain possession of the premises for his own
personal use and occupancy and for purposes of substantially altering,
remodeling or demolishing the multiple dwelling. In the event of substantial
altering, the relocated tenant shall have first option on the reconditioned
premises.
Whenever the public officer finds that a multiple dwelling subject
to rent control is no longer substandard, he shall so inform the Council,
and rent control on said multiple dwelling shall be removed. Any occupant
of a multiple dwelling wherein rent control is removed from operation
and whose initial charges were the cause of a complaint issuing under
this article, or any occupant who subsequently joined in the complaint,
shall be served with a copy of the public officer's findings
that the premises are no longer substandard. The occupant shall have
10 days to state his objections in writing to said findings to the
public officer who may affirm his findings or reinstate proceedings
by complaint and hearing as aforesaid. All objections shall be resolved
by the public officer within 20 days after the filing of his said
findings.
In the event the owner of a substandard multiple dwelling fails
to comply with an order for repair, alteration or improvement after
notice and reasonable opportunity to do so and where such failure
to comply results in the continuation of a condition or conditions
harmful to the health and safety of the occupants of the multiple
dwelling or to the general public, the public officer shall by and
with the approval of the Council bring an action in the Superior Court
pursuant to the provisions of the aforesaid statute, to be appointed
receiver ex officio of the rents and income from such property and
expend the same for the purpose of making such repairs, alterations
or improvements as are necessary to correct said harmful condition
or conditions. The said rents and income so collected by the said
receiver shall also be available for the payment of such costs and
expenses of the receivership, as may be adjudged by the court, and
for the payment to the municipality of any fines or penalties which
may have been imposed on the owner for violations of this article
and which have not been paid by the person liable therefor.
Upon his appointment, the receiver, by and with the approval
of the Council, in all cases where the real property in question is
encumbered by a first mortgage, shall appoint such first mortgagee,
if such mortgagee is a proper person and is willing to accept such
appointment, as the receiver's agent to collect the rents and
income from such real property and manage the same; and in all other
cases the receiver, by and with the approval of the Council may designate
the person in charge of management of such real property or some other
competent person as the receiver's agent to collect the rents
and income from such real property and manage the same, which mortgagee
or other person shall account promptly to the receiver for the rents
and income so collected; provided, however, that if the mortgagee
or other person so designated is derelict in collecting or accounting
for such rents and income or in the management of such real property,
the receiver shall apply to the court for the removal of such designated
mortgagee or other person, upon notice in writing to him, and the
court upon removing such designated mortgagee or other person, in
its discretion, may designate another person to collect the rents
and income from such real property and manage the same and account
to the receiver for the rents and income of such real property as
aforesaid.
In any such receivership, no fees shall be allowed the receiver
or his counsel for action as such receiver or counsel.
Any person aggrieved by an order issued by a public officer
under this article may, within 60 days after the posting and service
of such order, bring an action for injunctive relief to restrain the
public officer from carrying out the provisions of the order and for
any other appropriate relief in accordance with the provisions of
the aforesaid statute.
Nothing in this article shall be construed to abrogate or impair
the powers of the courts or of any department of the City to enforce
any provisions of its charter or its ordinances or regulations, nor
to prevent or punish violations thereof, and the powers conferred
by this article shall be in addition and supplemental to the powers
conferred by any other law.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall,
upon conviction, be punished by a fine not exceeding $500 or by imprisonment
for a term not exceeding 90 days, or both. A separate offense shall
be deemed committed on each day during or on which a violation occurs
or continues.
Records of orders, findings and determinations made by the public
officer under this article shall be deemed public records and shall
be permanently retained.
Nothing contained in this article shall be deemed to conflict with or override or impair the provisions of Article VII of this chapter or any other ordinance regulating or stabilizing or limiting permissible rent charges to be made respecting any real property.
