Borough of Pine Beach, NJ Rental Properties

The Borough of Pine Beach hereby grants to itself all such powers granted to municipalities by the State of New Jersey for holding landlords responsible for their tenants, including the posting of adequate security against the consequences of disorderly behavior of their tenants. Such enabling statutory powers are set forth at N.J.S.A. 40:48-12n et seq., as may be amended.

A.

If in any twelve-month period, two complaints on separate occasions of conduct upon or in proximity to any rental premises attributable to the acts or incitements of any of the tenants of those premises have been substantiated by prosecution and conviction in any court of competent jurisdiction, the Mayor and/or Council may institute proceedings to require the landlord of those premises to post a bond against the consequences of future incidents of the same character.

B.

The Mayor and Council, or a designee, shall cause to be served upon the landlord, in person or by registered mail, at the address appearing on the tax records of the Borough, notice advising of the institution of such proceedings together with particulars of the substantiated complaints upon which the proceedings are based. The landlord shall also be notified of the date and time of the hearing which shall be held in the Pine Beach Municipal Building and which shall be scheduled no sooner than 30 days from the date which the notice is served or mailed.

C.

At the hearing held pursuant to subsection B of this section, the hearing officer, who shall be a licensed attorney of the state as designated by the Mayor and/or Council, shall give full hearing to both the complaint of the municipality and to any other evidence that may be presented. The hearing officer may consider to the extent deemed relevant by the hearing officer prior complaints about the residents of the property including those complaints that did not result in a conviction. At the conclusion of the hearing, the hearing officer shall determine whether the landlord shall be required to post a bond in accordance with the terms of this article.

D.

Bond requirements.

(1)

Any bond required to be posted shall be in accordance with the judgment of the hearing officer based on the nature and extent of the offenses indicated in the substantiated complaints upon which the proceedings are based to be deemed adequate in the case of subsequent offenses to make reparation for:

(a)

Damages likely to be caused to public or private property and damages consequent upon disruption of affected residents rights of fair use and quiet possession of their premises;

(b)

Securing the payment of fines and penalties likely to be levied for such offenses; and

(c)

Compensating the Borough of Pine Beach for costs of repressing and prosecuting such incidents of disorderly behavior.

(2)

No such bond shall be in an amount less than $500 or more than $5,000. Pine Beach may enforce the bond and be entitled to an injunction prohibiting the landlord from making or renewing any lease of the affected premises for residential purposes until that bond or equivalent security, in satisfactory form and amount, has been deposited with the Borough of Pine Beach by action in the Superior Court. A bond or other security deposited shall remain in force for a period of three years and at the end of said time frame, the landlord shall be entitled to a discharge of same unless further proceedings leading to a forfeiture or partial forfeiture of the bond have been conducted.

(3)

Any forfeiture of security or bond shall be determined by a proceeding held before the hearing officer and said forfeiture shall be in accordance with an amount deemed necessary to provide for compensatory purposes.

E.

The Municipal Clerk shall be made aware of all complaints against a particular premises in furtherance of the purposes of this article.

This article prohibits the increasingly widespread practice of renting or leasing various types of residential dwellings, or segments thereof, located primarily in residential neighborhoods on a short-term basis to transient guests. Left unregulated, this practice will transform the character of many residential dwellings to the detriment of the health, safety, and quiet enjoyment of the effected neighborhoods.

It shall be unlawful for any owner, lessor, sublessor, or other person(s) or entity(ies) with possessory or use right(s) in any dwelling unit to receive or obtain actual or anticipated consideration for soliciting, advertising, offering, and/or permitting, allowing, or failing to discontinue the use or occupancy of any dwelling unit or part thereof for a period of less than 30 days.

Provisions of this article shall be enforced by the Borough’s Police Department, Zoning Officer, Building Code Official, Fire Official, Health Department or any other applicable code official and penalties for violations hereof shall be imposed in the amount of up to $1,000 per violation.

This article shall take effect upon its passage and publication as required by law.