A.
Effective upon adoption of this article, each residential rental
unit shall be inspected prior to each and every change of occupancy
to determine if said residential rental unit is habitable based on
the requirements of this article. The habitability inspection shall
be made within 10 business days of submission of a properly completed
application for inspection.
(1)
The Township shall not inspect any residential rental unit which
has become occupied in violation of this article. The property owner
shall be required to vacate the property and then schedule an inspection.
Each day a residential rental unit is occupied in violation of this
article shall be considered a separate offense.
B.
Such inspection shall be for the purposes of determining compliance with the Municipal Land Use and Development Chapter 203, the Housing Code and/or the UCC Code, the Uniform Fire Code of the State of New Jersey and/or the International Property Maintenance Code.
C.
In the event that any inspection, reinspection, or secondary reinspection
of a rental unit does not result in a satisfactory determination (i.e.,
the dwelling or residential rental unit is not habitable or otherwise
violates codes, ordinances and/or statutes), such property shall not
thereafter be licensed as a habitable residential rental unit, and
the owner of the property or his agent shall not occupy, lease, or
rent such property, nor shall any tenant occupy the property, until
the necessary corrections have been made so as to bring the property
and residential rental unit into compliance with the applicable codes
and the property thereafter subsequently becomes licensed as habitable.
When unsatisfactory conditions are discovered, all such corrections
shall be made as prescribed by the applicable codes referred to in
this article. In the event that said codes do not specify a date by
which corrections shall be made, then in that event all corrections
shall be made within 60 days from the date of notification of a failed
inspection, reinspection, or secondary reinspection; and if not made
within that time period, the owner shall be deemed in violation of
this article, and every day that the violation continues shall constitute
a separate offense. If, however, the property is occupied at the time
any inspection, reinspection or secondary reinspection takes place,
which inspection, reinspection, or secondary reinspection results
in an unsatisfactory condition being uncovered, then in that event
the tenant/occupant shall be permitted to remain in the property,
with the owner being given the allowed-by-code or a sixty-day period,
as mentioned above, to correct the deficiency. If the deficiency is
not corrected within the sixty-day period, then in that event the
tenant/occupant shall be required to vacate. If, at the time the inspection,
reinspection or secondary reinspection occurs, an unsatisfactory condition
is found, which unsatisfactory condition is deemed to be an imminent
hazard as determined by the inspector, then in that event the inspector
shall have a right to cause immediate vacation of the property in
order to protect the tenant/occupant from any imminent hazard within
the unit inspected.
A.
Prior to scheduling a habitability inspection of a residential rental
unit, the owner shall pay $125 for inspections which occur during
the 2012 calendar year license term. This fee includes $50 for the
fire inspection, which is already being charged as required in a separate
ordinance.
B.
The annual residential rental unit license fee shall entitle the
owner to one reinspection without charge each year. If additional
reinspections are required, prior to scheduling this additional reinspection
of a residential rental unit, the owner shall pay $50 for each additional
reinspection.
C.
This fee shall be reviewed annually to assure that the funds projected
to be collected are approximately equal to the expenses related to
implementing the requirements of this article. This requirement does
not prohibit the Township from creating a reasonable reserve for related
but unanticipated expenses.
D.
No revenues collected from the fees established in this article shall
be used for purposes other than those related to enforcing the codes
and other requirements outlined in this article.
Police officers, code enforcement officers, and Bureau of Fire
Prevention officers of the Township of Hamilton are authorized to
issue a summons for a violation of this article.
The Municipal Court of the Township of Hamilton shall have jurisdiction
over this article.
Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall,
upon conviction, be punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or by
imprisonment not exceeding 90 days, or both, at the discretion of
the Municipal Judge, and each day the violation shall continue shall
be deemed a separate offense.
