[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough
of Alpine 12-15-2014 by Ord. No. 749. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to provide for the enforcement
of the state and Borough codes, including but not limited to Property
Maintenance and Building Codes, establishing responsibilities of creditors,
and authorizing the Borough of Alpine to impose penalties on creditors
that fail to timely remedy code violations of vacant residential properties
in foreclosure.
A.
A creditor that serves a notice of intention to foreclose on a mortgage
on residential property in the Borough pursuant to the "Fair Foreclosure
Act," P.L. 1995, c. 244 (N.J.S.A. 2A:50-53 et seq.), shall serve the
Borough Clerk with a copy of the notice within 10 days of the time
that the creditor serves the notice on the owner of the property.
The creditor shall include in the copy of the notice served on the
Borough Clerk the full name and contact information of a person located
within the State of New Jersey who is authorized to accept service
on behalf of the creditor, along with the information as described
below.
B.
Within 60 days of the adoption of this chapter, any creditor that
has initiated a foreclosure proceeding on any residential property
which is pending in Superior Court shall provide to the Municipal
Clerk a notice as described below for all residential properties in
the Borough for which the creditor has pending foreclosure actions.
C.
The notice shall contain:
(1)
The name and contact information for the representative of the creditor
who is responsible for receiving complaints of property maintenance
and code violations;
(2)
Whether the property being foreclosed on is an affordable unit pursuant
to the "Fair Housing Act";
(3)
The street address, lot and block number of the property; and
(4)
The full name and contact information of an individual located within
the state authorized to accept service on behalf of the creditor.
D.
The Borough Clerk shall forward a copy of the notice to the Construction
Code Official and any other local official responsible for the administration
of any property maintenance or public nuisance code.
A.
If the owner of a residential property vacates or abandons any property
on which a foreclosure proceeding has been initiated or if a property
is otherwise vacated subsequent to the filing of the summons and complaint,
but prior to the vesting of title in any third party, and if the property
is found to be a nuisance or in violation of any applicable state
or local code, the local official, Borough Clerk or other authorized
municipal official shall notify the creditor.
B.
The creditor shall have the responsibility to abate the nuisance
or correct the violation in the same manner and to the same extent
as the title owner of the property to such standard or specification
as may be required by state law or municipal ordinance.
In the event of a violation of state or local ordinance, the municipality shall provide notice to the representative responsible for receiving complaints of property maintenance and code violations as identified under § 170-2C(1) along with the individual located within the state who is authorized to accept service on behalf of the creditor as identified under § 170-2C(4). Said notice shall include the description of the condition(s) that gave rise to the violation and shall provide a period of not less than 30 days from the creditor's receipt of the notice for the creditor to remedy the violation.
If the creditor violates any of the notice provisions of this
chapter or fails to remedy the violation within 30 days from receipt
of a notice of violation, the Borough may impose penalties allowed
for the violation of municipal ordinances pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:49-5.
If the Borough expends public funds in order to abate a nuisance or correct a violation on a residential property in which the creditor was given notice pursuant to the provisions of § 170-4 but failed to abate the nuisance or correct the violation as directed, the municipality shall have the same recourse against the creditor as it would have had against the title owner of the property, including but not limited to the recourse provided under Section 23 of P.L. 2003, c. 210 (N.J.S.A. 55:19-100) regarding placement of a lien.
