The position of Municipal Housing Liaison for the Township of West
Amwell is hereby established. The Municipal Housing Liaison shall
be appointed by duly adopted resolution of the Township Committee
and be subject to the approval of the Court.
The Municipal Housing Liaison must be approved by the Court and shall
be duly qualified through a training program sponsored by Affordable
Housing Professionals of New Jersey before assuming the duties of
municipal housing liaison.
The Municipal Housing Liaison shall be responsible for oversight
and administration of the affordable housing program for the Township
of West Amwell, including the following responsibilities if not contracted
out to the administrative agent:
Serving as the municipality's primary point of contact for all inquiries
from the state, affordable housing providers, administrative agents
and interested households;
Attending continuing education opportunities on affordability controls,
compliance monitoring and affirmative marketing at least annually
and more often as needed.
The Township shall designate by resolution of the Township Committee,
subject to the approval of the Court, one or more administrative agents
to administer newly constructed affordable units in accordance with
N.J.A.C. 5:93 and UHAC.
An operating manual shall be provided by the administrative agent(s)
to be adopted by resolution of the governing body and subject to approval
of the Court. The operating manuals shall be available for public
inspection in the office of the Municipal Clerk and in the office(s)
of the administrative agent(s).
The administrative agents shall perform the duties and responsibilities
of an administrative agent as are set forth in UHAC and which are
described in full detail in the operating manuals, including those
set forth in N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.14, 5:80-26.15, 5:80-26.16 and 5:80-26.18
thereof, which include:
The administrative agent shall, as delegated by the Township Committee,
have the authority to take all actions necessary and appropriate to
carry out its responsibilities hereunder.
Conducting interviews and obtaining sufficient documentation of gross
income and assets upon which to base a determination of income eligibility
for a low- or moderate-income unit;
Requiring that all certified applicants for restricted units execute
a certificate substantially in the form, as applicable, of either
the ownership or rental certificates set forth in Appendices J and
K of N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.1 et seq.;
Creating and maintaining a referral list of eligible applicant households
living in the housing region and eligible applicant households with
members working in the housing region where the units are located;
Employing a random selection process as provided in the affirmative
marketing plan of the Township when referring households for certification
to affordable units; and
Notifying the following entities of the availability of affordable
housing units in the Township of West Amwell: Fair Share Housing Center,
the New Jersey State Conference of the NAACP, the Latino Action Network,
NORWESCAP, the Supportive Housing Association, and the Central Jersey
Housing Resource Center.
Instituting and maintaining an effective means of communicating information
between owners and the administrative agent regarding the availability
of restricted units for resale or rental; and
Instituting and maintaining an effective means of communicating information
to low- and moderate-income households regarding the availability
of restricted units for resale or rerental.
Reviewing and approving requests for determination from owners of
restricted units who wish to take out home equity loans or refinance
during the term of their ownership that the amount of indebtedness
to be incurred will not violate the terms of this chapter;
Reviewing and approving requests to increase sales prices from owners
of restricted units who wish to make capital improvements to the units
that would affect the selling price, such authorizations to be limited
to those improvements resulting in additional bedrooms or bathrooms
and the depreciated cost of central air conditioning systems;
Securing annually from the Township a list of all affordable housing
units for which tax bills are mailed to absentee owners, and notifying
all such owners that they must either move back to their unit or sell
it;
Securing from all developers and sponsors of restricted units, at
the earliest point of contact in the processing of the project or
development, written acknowledgement of the requirement that no restricted
unit can be offered, or in any other way committed, to any person,
other than a household duly certified to the unit by the administrative
agent;
Posting annually in all rental properties, including two-family homes,
of a notice as to the maximum permitted rent together with the telephone
number of the administrative agent where complaints of excess rent
or other charges can be made;
Sending annual mailings to all owners of affordable dwelling units,
reminding them of the notices and requirements outlined in N.J.A.C.
5:80-26.18(d)4;
Creating and publishing a written operating manual for each affordable
housing program administered by the administrative agent, to be approved
by the Township Mayor and Committee and the Court, setting forth procedures
for administering the affordability controls.
The administrative agent shall prepare monitoring reports for submission
to the municipal housing liaison in time to meet any monitoring requirements
and deadlines imposed by the Court.
The administrative agent shall attend continuing education sessions
on affordability controls, compliance monitoring, and affirmative
marketing at least annually and more often as needed.
Upon the occurrence of a breach of any of the regulations governing
the affordable unit by an owner, developer or tenant, the municipality
shall have all remedies provided at law or equity, including but not
limited to foreclosure, tenant eviction, municipal fines, a requirement
for household recertification, acceleration of all sums due under
a mortgage, recoupment of any funds from a sale in the violation of
the regulations, injunctive relief to prevent further violation of
the regulations, entry on the premises, and specific performance.
After providing written notice of a violation to an owner, developer
or tenant of a low- or moderate-income unit and advising the owner,
developer or tenant of the penalties for such violations, the municipality
may take the following action against the owner, developer or tenant
for any violation that remains uncured for a period of 60 days after
service of the written notice:
The municipality may file a court action pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:58-l
l alleging a violation, or violations, of the regulations governing
the affordable housing unit. If the owner, developer or tenant is
found by the court to have violated any provision of the regulations
governing affordable housing units, the owner, developer or tenant
shall be subject to one or more of the following penalties, at the
discretion of the court:
A fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment for a period not
to exceed 90 days, or both. Each and every day that the violation
continues or exists shall be considered a separate and specific violation
of these provisions and not as a continuing offense;
In the case of an owner who has rented his or her low- or moderate-income
unit in violation of the regulations governing affordable housing
units, payment into the Township of West Amwell Affordable Housing
Trust Fund of the gross amount of rent illegally collected;
In the case of an owner who has rented his or her low- or moderate-income
unit in violation of the regulations governing affordable housing
units, payment of an innocent tenant's reasonable relocation costs,
as determined by the court.
The municipality may file a court action in the Superior Court seeking
a judgment, which would result in the termination of the owner's equity
or other interest in the unit, in the nature of a mortgage foreclosure.
Any judgment shall be enforceable as if the same were a judgment of
default of the first purchase money mortgage and shall constitute
a lien against the low- and moderate-income unit.
Such judgment shall be enforceable, at the option of the municipality,
by means of an execution sale by the Sheriff, at which time the low-
and moderate-income unit of the violating owner shall be sold at a
sale price which is not less than the amount necessary to fully satisfy
and pay off any first purchase money mortgage and prior liens and
the costs of the enforcement proceedings incurred by the municipality,
including attorney's fees. The violating owner shall have the right
to possession terminated as well as the title conveyed pursuant to
the Sheriffs sale.
The proceeds of the Sheriff's sale shall first be applied to satisfy
the first purchase money mortgage lien and any prior liens upon the
low- and moderate-income unit. The excess, if any, shall be applied
to reimburse the municipality for any and all costs and expenses incurred
in connection with either the court action resulting in the judgment
of violation or the Sheriff's sale. In the event that the proceeds
from the Sheriffs sale are insufficient to reimburse the municipality
in full as aforesaid, the violating owner shall be personally responsible
for and to the extent of such deficiency, in addition to any and all
costs incurred by the municipality in connection with collecting such
deficiency. In the event that a surplus remains after satisfying all
of the above, such surplus, if any, shall be placed in escrow by the
municipality for the owner and shall be held in such escrow for a
maximum period of two years or until such earlier time as the owner
shall make a claim with the municipality for such. Failure of the
owner to claim such balance within the two-year period shall automatically
result in a forfeiture of such balance to the municipality. Any interest
accrued or earned on such balance while being held in escrow shall
belong to and shall be paid to the municipality, whether such balance
shall be paid to the owner or forfeited to the municipality.
Foreclosure by the municipality due to violation of the regulations
governing affordable housing units shall not extinguish the restrictions
of the regulations governing affordable housing units as the same
apply to the low- and moderate-income unit. Title shall be conveyed
to the purchaser at the Sheriffs sale, subject to the restrictions
and provisions of the regulations governing the affordable housing
unit. The owner determined to be in violation of the provisions of
this plan and from whom title and possession were taken by means of
the Sheriff's sale shall not be entitled to any right of redemption.
If there are no bidders at the Sheriffs sale, or if insufficient
amounts are bid to satisfy the first purchase money mortgage and any
prior liens, the municipality may acquire title to the low- and moderate-income
unit by satisfying the first purchase money mortgage and any prior
liens and crediting the violating owner with an amount equal to the
difference between the first purchase money mortgage and any prior
liens and costs of the enforcement proceedings, including legal fees
and the maximum resale price for which the low- and moderate-income
unit could have been sold under the terms of the regulations governing
affordable housing units. This excess shall be treated in the same
manner as the excess which would have been realized from an actual
sale as previously described.
Failure of the low- and moderate-income unit to be either sold at
the Sheriffs sale or acquired by the municipality shall obligate the
owner to accept an offer to purchase from any qualified purchaser
which may be referred to the owner by the municipality, with such
offer to purchase being equal to the maximum resale price of the low-
and moderate-income unit as permitted by the regulations governing
affordable housing units.
The owner shall remain fully obligated, responsible and liable for
complying with the terms and restrictions of governing affordable
housing units until such time as title is conveyed from the owner.
Appeals from all decisions of an administrative agent designated
pursuant to this chapter shall be filed, in writing, with the Executive
Director of COAH.