Unless the context clearly indicates a different meaning, the
following words or phrases, when used in this article, shall have
the following meaning:
The individual or individuals designated by the owner as
the person(s) authorized by the owner to perform any duty imposed
upon the owner of this article. The term does not necessarily mean
a licensed real estate broker or salesman of the State of New Jersey,
as those terms are defined by N.J.S.A. 45:15-3; however, such term
may include a licensed real estate broker or salesman of the State
of New Jersey, if such person designated by the owner as his agent
is so licensed.
Any apartment, cottage, or bungalow, or any room or rooms
in a rooming house/boardinghouse or other dwelling unit, consisting
of one or more rooms occupying all or part of a floor or floors in
a building, whether designed with or without housekeeping facilities
for dwelling purposes and notwithstanding whether the apartment be
designed for residence, for office or the operation of any industry
or business or for any other type of independent use.
Any room or rooms or suite or apartment, including a room
or rooms in a rooming house/boardinghouse, whether furnished or unfurnished,
which is occupied or intended, arranged or designed to be occupied
for sleeping or dwelling purposes by one or more persons, including
but not limited to the owner thereof or any of his servants, agents
or employees, and shall include all privileges, services, furnishings,
furniture, equipment, facilities and improvement connected with use
or occupancy thereof.
Any person or group of persons, firm, corporation or officer
thereof, partnership, association or trust that owns, operates, exercises
control over, or is in charge of a rental facility.
An individual, firm, corporation, partnership, association,
trust or other legal entity, or any combination thereof.
Every building, group of buildings or a portion thereof consisting
of one or more dwelling units, which is kept, used, maintained, advertised
or held out to be a place where living accommodations are supplied,
whether furnished or unfurnished, for pay or other consideration,
to one or more individuals.
A dwelling unit which is available for lease or rental purposes.
"Rental unit" shall not include that portion of a rental facility
occupied by the owner.
All rental units within a rental facility hereinabove defined
shall be registered with the Township Clerk or designee of the Township
of Mount Laurel, or such other person as designated by the Manager
and Township Council, on forms which shall be provided for that purpose,
and which shall be obtained from the Township Clerk or designee. Such
registration shall occur on an annual basis, as provided herein.
[Amended 4-23-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-2; 2-11-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-5]
Each rental unit within a rental facility hereinabove defined
shall be registered for a period of one year, or with each change
in occupancy, whichever shall occur first. The registration term shall
commence on the first day of October of each year, and shall be valid
for a period of 12 calendar months, or upon a change in occupancy,
whichever shall occur first, at which time it shall expire and a new
registration shall be required. Any lease which has been executed
prior to the adoption of this article shall not be affected, but the
rental facility must nevertheless be registered and inspected in accordance
with this article. No rental facility, or portion thereof, shall hereafter
be rented unless the rental facility and units therein are registered
in accordance with this article.
Without in any way intending to infringe upon the requirements
of N.J.S.A. 46:8-28, all rental facilities shall be registered, as
provided herein. Every owner shall file with the Township Clerk or
designee of the Township of Mount Laurel, or such other person as
designated by the Manager and Township Council, a registration form
for each unit contained within a building or structure, which shall
include the following information:
A.
The name and address of the record owner or owners of the premises
and the record owner or owners of the rental business, if not the
same persons. In the case of a partnership, the name and addresses
of all general partners shall be provided, together with the telephone
numbers for each of such individuals, where such individual may be
reached both during the day and evening hours.
B.
If the address of any record owner is not located in Mount Laurel
or in Burlington County, the name and address of a person who resides
in Burlington County and who is authorized to accept notices from
a tenant and to issue receipts therefor and to accept service of process
on behalf of the record owner.
C.
The name and address of the agent of the premises, if any.
D.
The name and address, including the dwelling unit number of the superintendent,
janitor, custodian or other individual employed by the owner or agent
to provide regular maintenance service, if any.
E.
The name, address and telephone number of an individual representative
of the owner or agent of the owner, if domiciled in Burlington County,
who may be reached or contacted at any time in the event of an emergency
affecting the rental facility or any unit of dwelling space therein,
including such emergencies as the failure of any essential service
or system, and who has the authority to make emergency decisions concerning
the rental facility and any repair thereto or expenditure in connection
therewith.
F.
The name and address of every holder of a recorded mortgage on the
premises.
G.
If fuel oil is used to heat the building and the landlord furnishes
the heat in the building, the name and address of the fuel oil dealer
servicing the building and the grade of fuel oil used.
H.
As to each rental unit, a specification of the exact number of sleeping
rooms contained in the rental unit. In order to satisfy the requirement
of this provision, an owner shall submit a floor plan, which shall
become part of the application and which shall be attached to the
registration form when filed by the Township Clerk or designee.
I.
Such other information as may be prescribed by the Township of Mount
Laurel.
[Amended 2-11-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-5]
The Township Clerk or designee shall index and file the registration
forms. In doing so, the Township Clerk or designee shall follow the
mandates of N.J.S.A. 46:8-28.1, as amended and supplemented, so that
the filing of the registration form will simultaneously satisfy the
registration requirements of N.J.S.A. 46:8-28 to the extent that it
applies to the property being registered, and will also satisfy the
registration requirements of this article. The owners shall post the
certificate of inspection.
Every person required to file a registration form pursuant to
this article shall file an amended registration form within 20 days
after any change in the information required to be included thereon.
No fee shall be required for the filing of an amendment, except where
the ownership of the premises is changed.
A.
It is the goal of the Township to inspect each rental facility once
every 12 months at the time of the registration renewal or at the
time of change of occupancy. The owner or agent shall notify the Township
at the time of vacancy to coordinate the inspection.
[Amended 2-11-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-5]
B.
Such inspections shall be performed by such person, persons or agency
duly authorized and appointed by the Township of Mount Laurel, and
inspections made by persons or an agency other than the duly authorized
and appointed person, persons or agency of the Township of Mount Laurel
shall not be used as a valid substitute.
C.
Such inspection shall be for the purpose of determining Zoning Ordinance[1] compliance, and to the extent applicable, to determine
if the property complies with the Property Maintenance Code, Uniform
Construction Code, BOCA Maintenance Code, Housing Code and/or Uniform
Fire Safety Act.
D.
Unsatisfactory inspection. In the event that the inspection(s) of a rental unit within the rental facility is deemed unsatisfactory, such property shall not thereafter be registered and the owner of the property or his agent shall not 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 rental unit into compliance with the applicable code, and the property is thereafter subsequently inspected and registered. In the event that the property is occupied when such conditions are discovered, all such corrections shall be made within 30 days, 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 and distinct violation, subject to the penalty provisions of § 121-19 of this article. The owner, however, shall be permitted to apply for extension of time to make repairs or corrections so as to comply with this article, for good cause shown.
E.
Process for scheduling inspection; administrative warrant.
[Amended 2-11-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-5]
(1)
At the time of filing of the registration or the receipt of complaint
concerning the fitness of the rental facility, the Inspection Officer
shall contact the landlord and arrange a time for the inspection during
normal business hours.
(2)
The Inspection Officer shall meet the property owner or tenant at
the rental facility at the time scheduled for the inspection. If the
Inspector determines that the zoning and construction code are in
order, the Township will issue the registration. The Township shall
adhere to the construction code that existed at the time of issuance
of the last certificate of occupancy or certificate of continuing
occupancy. If the property fails inspection, the landlord shall be
provided the reasons for failure and shall have 30 days from the inspection
to abate the issues identified by the Inspector. If the landlord seeks
to contest the finding, the landlord may appeal to the Zoning Official
or the Construction Board of Appeals as appropriate.
(3)
If the landlord fails to schedule an inspection within 30 days of
the initial request, fails to schedule a follow-up inspection if the
property failed the initial inspection or fails to permit the inspection
at the time scheduled, the Township may move for an administrative
warrant to gain access to the property for inspection purposes.
(4)
Administrative warrant.
(a)
The Township Inspector, Township Manager or their designee is
authorized to make application to any court of competent jurisdiction
to the issuance of an administrative search warrant in order to conduct
an inspection of any property covered by this chapter where the owner
or managing agent or occupant fails or refuses to allow an inspection
of the rental property, and where there is probable cause to believe
that a violation of this chapter has occurred or a violation of the
Township's zoning or construction codes has occurred or continues
to occur.
(b)
Except for emergency inspections, nothing in this chapter shall
be deemed to authorize the Township inspection officer to conduct
an inspection of any premises subject to this chapter without the
consent of the owner, managing agent or occupant without a warrant
issued by a court of competent jurisdiction.
[Amended 9-24-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-16]
A.
The inspection officers are hereby authorized to make inspections
to determine the condition of rental facilities, rental units and
rooming houses/boardinghouses, in order that they may promote the
purposes of this article to safeguard the health, safety and welfare
of the occupants of rental facilities, rental units and rooming houses/boardinghouses
and of the general public. For the purposes of making such inspections,
the inspecting officers are hereby authorized to enter, examine and
survey rental facilities, rental units and rooming houses/boardinghouses
at a time coordinated with the landlord. The owner or occupant of
every rental facility, rental unit and rooming house/boardinghouse
shall give the inspecting officer free access to the rental facility,
rental unit and rooming house/boardinghouse during the scheduled inspection,
to promote the purposes of this article.
B.
Every occupant shall give the owner of the rental facility, rental
unit and rooming house/boardinghouse access to any part of such rental
facility, rental unit and rooming house/boardinghouse during the scheduled
inspection for the purpose of making such repairs or alterations as
are necessary to effect compliance with the provisions of this article
or any lawful order issued pursuant thereto.
C.
Complaints. Within 10 days of receipt of a complaint alleging a reported
violation of this article, an inspecting officer shall conduct an
inspection as hereinbefore provided.
[Amended 2-11-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-5]
No person shall hereafter occupy any rental unit, nor shall
the owner permit occupancy of any rental unit within the Township
of Mount Laurel, which is not registered in accordance with this article.
At the time of the filing of the registration form, the owner
or agent of the owner must pay a fee for the purposes of covering
administrative costs associated with the administration of this article
in accordance with the following:
A.
An annual registration fee of:
(1)
$200 per rental unit for the first 10 rental units of a rental property;
and
(2)
$25 per rental unit for a rental property not subject to § 121-13A(1) above.
B.
Fees under this section shall be due and payable on the first day
of October of each and every year. If any fee is not paid within 30
days of its due date, a late charge of $25 will be assessed.
Every owner shall provide each occupant or tenant occupying
a rental unit with a copy of the registration form required by this
article. This particular provision shall not apply to any hotel, motel
or guest house registered with the State of New Jersey, pursuant to
the Hotel and Multiple Dwelling Act, as defined in N.J.S.A. 55:13A-3.
This provision may be complied with by posting a copy of the registration
certificate in a conspicuous place within the rental unit(s).
A.
The maximum number of occupants shall be posted in each rental unit. It shall be unlawful for any person, including the owner, agent, tenant or registered tenant, to allow a greater number of persons than the posted maximum number of occupants to sleep in or occupy overnight the rental unit for a period exceeding 29 days. Any person violating this provision shall be subject to the penalty provisions of § 121-19 of this article.
B.
Only those occupants whose names are on file with the Township of Mount Laurel, as required in this article, may reside in the registered premises. It shall be unlawful for any other person to reside in said premises, and any owner, agent, tenant or registered tenant allowing a nonregistered party to reside in said premises shall be in violation of this section and shall be subject to the penalty provisions of § 121-19 of this article.
No rental unit may be registered for any property containing
a rental unit, unless all municipal taxes and any other municipal
assessments are paid by the owner or applicant and are current on
the date of the application.
All dwelling units shall be maintained in accordance with the
Uniform Construction Code and the BOCA National Property Maintenance
Code.
[Amended 9-24-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-16]
A.
Occupants. Only those occupants whose names are on file with the
Township Clerk, as provided in this article, may reside in the registered
premises. It shall be unlawful for any other person to reside in said
premises, and this provision may be enforced against the landlord,
tenant or other person residing in said premises.
B.
Nuisance prohibited. No rental facility shall be conducted in a manner
which shall result in any unreasonable disturbance or disruption to
the surrounding properties and property owner or of the public in
general, such that it shall constitute a nuisance, as defined in the
ordinances of the Township of Mount Laurel.
C.
Compliance with other laws. The maintenance of all rental facilities
and the conduct engaged in upon the premises by occupants and their
guests shall at all times be in full compliance with all applicable
ordinances and regulations of the Township of Mount Laurel, and with
all applicable state and federal laws.
[Amended 9-24-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-16]
Any person who violates any provision of Article II shall, upon conviction in the Municipal Court of the Township of Mount Laurel or such other court having jurisdiction, be liable to a fine not exceeding $1,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 30 days, or both. Each day that a violation occurs shall be deemed a separate and distinct violation, subject to the penalty provisions of this article.
