[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Township of Montclair 3-14-2023 by Ord. No. O-23-04. Amendments noted where applicable.]
There is hereby established a Residential Dwelling Rental Relief Fund for the purpose of providing temporary financial rental assistance to persons who can demonstrate a genuine need or hardship in meeting their rental payment obligations through no fault of their own. The Residential Rent Relief Fund shall be administered by the Housing Commission in accordance with the terms and conditions of this chapter and the Local Fiscal Affairs Law, N.J.S.A. 40A:5-1 et seq.
Funds from the Residential Dwelling Rental Relief Fund may be utilized to provide tenant-based temporary financial rental assistance to applicants residing in the Township of Montclair who can demonstrate a genuine need or hardship in meeting their rental payment obligations through no fault of their own. Monies paid from the Residential Dwelling Rental Relief Fund shall be paid to landlords on behalf of qualifying individuals/households. For purposes of this chapter, an applicant shall demonstrate genuine need or hardship based on a household income at or below 80% of the area median income, as determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, where at least one member has been unemployed or subject to reduced income for the ninety-day period preceding the date of the application. The applicant must establish proof of residency and shall be subject to income verification. The Housing Commission may request additional information from an applicant as necessary to process and/or approve an application pursuant to this chapter.
A. 
An applicant may receive up to 12 months of rental assistance. Maximum assistance with rent payment in arrears shall be six months. Arrears will be paid first, with the remainder available for future rent. Rental assistance shall be capped at 125% of the area fair market rent.
B. 
No applicant shall be eligible for rental assistance unless they have resided in the rental housing unit for at least three months prior to falling into arrears.
C. 
No applicant shall receive rental assistance if alternative sources of rental subsidy, including, without limitation, rental assistance under the federal or state programs, are available.
D. 
Any rental housing unit, the rental for which is paid, in whole or in part, with rental assistance received under the Residential Dwelling Rental Relief Fund, shall be in compliance with all applicable building, zoning, fire and housing habitability codes.
Subject to § 29A-3, the Housing Commission shall, on a case-by-case basis, establish the maximum amounts and lengths of terms of eligibility for temporary rental assistance necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter.
The Manager, upon recommendation of the Housing Commission, may promulgate such rules and regulations that are necessary to govern the administration of the Residential Dwelling Rent Relief Fund. No such rules or regulations shall become effective until filed in the office of the Township Clerk. The Township Clerk shall arrange for the prompt publication of said rules and regulations after same have been filed. In the event of a conflict between this chapter and any such rules and regulations, this chapter shall control.
On the date that is 20 years following the effective date of this chapter, authorization for the Residential Dwelling Rent Relief Fund shall sunset, and the Fund shall terminate. Any unexpended balance in the Fund as of that date shall be remitted to the Township for use, in its sole discretion, in its operating budget. In the event the Fund is depleted before it sunsets, the Fund shall automatically terminate. The Township is not obligated or required to replenish the Fund at any time prior to its depletion under any circumstance.