[[1]HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township
of Monroe 9-28-2023 by Ord. No. O:36-2023. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Chapter 243, Signs, adopted 12-29-1986
by Ord. No. O-34A-86, was repealed 5-29-2018 by Ord. No. O:15-2018.
The following definitions shall apply to this chapter:
Fit for habitation, as defined by the statutes, codes and
ordinances in full force and effect in the State of New Jersey, County
of Gloucester, and Township of Monroe, and occupied or unoccupied
and offered for rent.
The consumer price index (all items) for the region of the
United States of which the Township of Monroe, New Jersey, is a part,
published periodically by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States
Department of Labor. The index used will be the CPI-U index.
A written or oral lease in existence between the landlord
and the tenant, and, in the absence of a written or oral lease or
in circumstances wherein a month-to-month tenancy is created by the
tenant and landlord, either explicitly, implicitly or by operation
of law, "lease" shall mean, for the purpose of this chapter, the twelve-month
period commencing the first day of the month in which all leases in
the mobile/manufactured home park are renewable.
Includes that portion of a mobile/manufactured home park
rented or offered for rent, for the purpose of parking or positioning
a trailer, mobile or manufactured home for living and dwelling purposes,
to one or more tenants or family units, together with all the privileges,
services, equipment, facilities and improvements connected with the
use or occupancy of such portion of the property. Mobile home spaces
which are newly constructed and rented for the first time are exempted,
and the initial rent may be determined by the owner. All subsequent
rents will be subject to the provisions of this chapter.
A parcel of land which has been so designed and improved
that it contains two or more mobile/manufactured home lots available
to the general public for the placement thereon of mobile/manufactured
homes for occupancy.
All expenses actually incurred and accrued by the landlord
for the operation of the mobile/manufactured home park during a calendar
year. Reasonable and necessary operating expenses shall be computed
in accordance with the following limitations and requirements:
Taxes shall be limited to amounts actually paid solely on the
mobile/manufactured home park.
Repair and maintenance expenses shall not include expenditures
for major improvements or items which meet the definition of capital
improvements.
Professional fees, including legal and accounting expenses,
shall be limited to actual costs for day-to-day operation of the mobile/manufactured
home park. Legal and accounting expenses resulting solely from an
application made pursuant to this chapter or resulting in legal challenges
pursuant to this chapter shall not be considered "reasonable and necessary
operating expenses," as defined in this chapter.
Management expenses shall be limited to the amounts paid for
actual services performed by a manager of a management firm of the
mobile/manufactured home park. In no event shall a fee for management
services exceed what the Rent Leveling Board determines to be reasonable.
The payable rent charged and received for the mobile home
space over the previous twelve-month period, exclusive of any of the
following: all real property taxes, space fees or license fee charged
by the Township of Monroe pursuant to any duly adopted ordinance,
any cost of utilities if the same are provided for by the landlord
and any increase for major improvements as permitted by the Municipal
Code of the Township of Monroe.
Mailing to the home address by certified mail, return receipt
requested, or by hand delivery certified or by affidavit or by an
acknowledgment of service executed by the person served, which affidavit
or acknowledgment of service must be retained in the records of the
person causing service.
The minimum rate charged for sewerage, water service and
private trash collection. In areas where there are no public sewer
or water service utilities, it shall include private septic and private
well systems. Any single renovation of an existing utility system
which meets the definition of a major improvement under this chapter
is excepted from this definition.
A.
The establishment of rents for mobile home rental spaces between
a landlord and a tenant, and which are available to rent to tenants
to which this chapter is applicable, shall hereafter be determined
by the following provisions:
(1)
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, no landlord may request
or receive any increase in the rental income or additional charges
for that mobile home space from any tenant, new or continuing, which
is greater than a combination of the following:
(2)
No continuing tenant, at the termination of a tenancy, shall suffer
or be caused to pay any rent increase for the mobile home space in
any twelve-month period which exceeds the above permitted increase
for the twelve-month period. This chapter does not limit the amount
of rent that the landlord may negotiate with and charge to a new tenant
who agrees to pay that rent, but once a rent is established for a
new tenant, this chapter shall thereafter limit the annual increases
that may be imposed upon that tenant.
(3)
The landlord shall be entitled, without need for application or hearing,
to a yearly rent increase in an amount equal of 3% of the previous
twelve-month rental income for the mobile home space, or the percentage
increase in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is less. The landlord
is not obligated to increase the rent by the amounts permitted by
this chapter, but shall not increase the rent to an existing resident
by more than is permitted by this chapter. If the tenant pays for
the cost of his/her heat, the percentage increase in rent shall be
no more than 2%, or the percentage increase in the Consumer Price
Index, whichever is less. The landlord shall be entitled, without
need for an application, a real estate tax increase to pass on any
tax increases or decreases. For any subsequent year, the percentage
increase of the Consumer Price Index shall be effective for increases
as of, or after, January 1. The Consumer Price Index for the region,
including the County of Gloucester, shall be the index utilized for
this purpose. The landlord shall notify the Monroe Township Rent Leveling
Board of any such rent increase.
(4)
Increase by agreement. Where the landlord and the tenants effectuate
a rent increase by agreement, the agreement shall be in writing, signed
by the landlord and signed by the tenants representing 75% plus one
of the occupied rental units affected by the rent increase. Such rental
increases by agreement shall take effect in accordance with the terms
and conditions thereof, and a copy of such agreement shall be filed
with the Rent Leveling Board within 45 days of the execution of the
agreement.
B.
No landlord may request or receive from the existing tenants any
increase in rental income or additional charges except as provided
by this chapter, and except for CPI tax or utility increases and vacancy
decontrol increases, until such time as the landlord shall have obtained
approval, in writing, from the Rent Leveling Board, as hereinafter
established, for said increase. Furthermore, there shall be only one
request per rent increase type, per landlord per mobile/manufactured
home park for any increase per calendar year per mobile/manufactured
home park space, for each of the increases permitted by this section,
which request and decision shall be binding upon all tenancies of
that particular mobile/manufactured home park which expire during
said calendar year. The landlord shall notify the Rent Leveling Board,
in writing, at least 60 days' prior to the effective date of
any increase proposed pursuant to the provisions of this section.
As soon as a hearing date is established for the application, the
landlord shall cause a copy of said notice to be mailed by certified
mail to any tenant who may be affected by the increase sought by the
landlord. In the event that a landlord shall submit an application
for increase or decrease in rent where required to do so by this chapter,
based upon any of the criteria herein, the Rent Leveling Board shall
hold a hearing within 30 days of the submission of the completed application.
A landlord is permitted to charge late fees, legal fees, extra person
fees, pet fees, and other fees relating to a tenant's violation
of the lease as "additional rent."
C.
A tenant may be notified by other than certified mail only if the landlord or his representative shall serve the tenant personally with the notice provided for herein and shall certify such service by affidavit and retain such affidavit in his records. Upon receipt of said notice and where the increase sought is based upon terms in Subsection A(1)(a) herein, the Rent Leveling Board shall schedule a hearing on said increase and the landlord shall post, in a conspicuous place in or about the park, a notice of said hearing date at least five days' prior to the proposed date of hearing. Where the increase sought is based upon the terms in Subsection A(1)(b) herein, no hearing shall be scheduled, no written approval is required, and the increase shall become effective on the date specified in said notice if all other applicable provisions of this chapter are complied with.
D.
In the event that a landlord shall make application for any rent
increase hereunder or supply any notice to the Rent Leveling Board
or any tenant, said application shall include a certification by the
landlord that all information supplied in an application or notice
is true and accurate.
E.
Any and all bills submitted in connection with any application for
a rent increase, as set forth elsewhere herein, shall be for work
invoiced to the landlord within the 18 months next preceding the date
of the filing of the application. All bills shall be presented with
proof of payment thereof. Any bill presented by the landlord which
was invoiced earlier than 18 months prior to the date of the application
shall be reviewed by the Monroe Township Rent Leveling Board on a
case-by-case basis. The landlord shall have the burden of proof as
to why the bill was not submitted within the time restrictions provided.
B.
The landlord shall provide each tenant, new or existing, a copy of
the executed lease at the time the lease is executed by the landlord
and the tenant, new or existing. In no event shall the landlord be
able to withhold the executed lease agreement from the tenant, new
or existing.
C.
Upon written request of a tenant, new, existing, or former, the landlord
shall provide a copy of all leases executed by that tenant within
five days of the written request from the tenant.
A.
Rent increases, as authorized by this chapter, may be allowed only
if the mobile/manufactured home park substantially complies with all
existing state, county and local codes and is deemed "available for
rent to tenants." As part of the application for any increase, the
landlord shall submit to the Rent Leveling Board such certification
of compliance with said codes as the landlord is required by law to
maintain.
B.
Where the mobile/manufactured home park fails to substantially comply
with said codes, any tenant may apply to the Rent Leveling Board for
a reasonable reduction in rent, commensurate with any such noncompliance
by the landlord, whereupon the Rent Leveling Board shall duly notify
the landlord and schedule the matter for a hearing. If, as a result
of such a hearing, a reasonable reduction in rent is granted, it shall
remain in effect until the landlord proves that the noncompliance
has been corrected.
A.
Any rental income or additional charge increase at a time other than
at the expiration of a tenancy or the termination of a periodic tenancy
shall be void, except as otherwise provided in this chapter. Any rental
income or additional charge increase in excess of that authorized
by the provisions of this chapter shall be void.
B.
As an exception to this section, each landlord subject to the provisions
of this chapter when renting a mobile/manufactured home space to a
new tenant as a result of the existing tenant vacating the mobile/manufactured
home and/or rental space shall have the right to charge a fair market
value to the new tenant. These provisions shall apply to the new tenant,
whether or not the new tenant buys an existing home from an existing
tenant or brings a new home in to the mobile home park. After the
new rent is determined, subsequent rental increases to the tenant
who takes possession shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter.
In the event the mobile/manufactured home owner is selling the mobile/manufactured
home at a private sale and the mobile/manufactured home will remain
on the rental space, the landlord, upon written request, shall notify
the existing tenant by certified mail of the rent that will serve
as a base year for the new tenant. Once such rate has been set by
the landlord, the landlord shall have no right to alter or amend such
rate for a period of one year, unless a shorter time period is approved
upon petition to the Rent Leveling Board.
A tenant shall be entitled to a rent reduction from a landlord
because of a decrease in the municipal property taxes or utilities
or any decrease in space fees or license fee charged by Monroe Township.
The reduction shall not exceed that amount authorized by the following
provisions:
A.
Where the decrease consists of a decrease in the municipal property
tax due to aid received from the State Aid for Schools Fund and where
said decrease is subject to the provisions of c. 63, P.L. 1976 (N.J.S.A.
54:4-62 et seq.), as may be amended from time to time, the landlord
shall make such rebate and upon such terms as c. 63, P.L. 1976, provides.
B.
Where the decrease consists of a decrease in the municipal property tax other than that decrease provided for in Subsection A above, the landlord shall divide the decrease in the present tax over the tax for the previous year by the total number of occupied mobile home spaces in the mobile/manufactured home park. The decrease each tenant is entitled to shall be a rent reduction computed pursuant to § 243-7 hereof.
C.
Where the decrease consists of a decrease in utilities, space fees
or license fee, the landlord shall divide the decrease in the present
utilities, mobile home space fees or license fee over the utilities,
mobile home space fees or license fee of the previous year by the
total number of occupied mobile home spaces in the mobile/manufactured
home park to obtain the decrease per space. The decrease each tenant
is entitled to shall be a credit to rent in 12 monthly installments
commencing from the effective date of said reduction. Any tenant entitled
to a rent decrease hereunder shall be notified by the landlord, by
ordinary mail, together with filing of an affidavit of mailing by
the landlord, of the calculations involved in computing such reduction
and the effective date of such reduction.
A landlord shall be entitled to a rent surcharge for any increase
in municipal property taxes. Any landlord seeking a surcharge for
property taxes shall notify the tenants, by certified mail, at least
30 days' prior to the date of which said increase is to be effective,
of the calculations involved, including the property tax for the mobile/manufactured
home park for the previous year and the increase in the present tax
over the tax for the previous year divided by the total number of
mobile home spaces in the mobile/manufactured home park. The tax surcharge
each tenant is liable for shall be divided by 12 months and payable
in monthly installments. Should taxes be reduced, the tenants'
rents will be adjusted (reduced) pursuant to this same formula.
A.
In the event that a municipal property tax appeal is taken by the
landlord and the landlord is successful in said appeal and the taxes
are reduced, the tenants involved shall receive 50% of said reduction
after the landlord's costs of securing said tax reduction have
been deducted. The landlord shall receive the remaining benefit of
the reduced taxes. Thereafter, in succeeding years, the benefit of
such successful tax appeal shall be divided evenly between the tenants
and the landlord.
B.
Any such successful landlord shall notify the tenants, by certified
mail, within 30 days after the receipt of the judgment, of the calculations
involved, including an itemization of the costs of securing said reduction
and the reduction each tenant is entitled to, determined by dividing
half of the remainder of the amount of said tax reduction by the total
number of mobile home spaces in the mobile/manufactured home park.
A.
Hardship. A landlord who finds that the present rental income and
additional charges from the mobile/manufactured home park on which
he seeks relief thereunder are insufficient to cover the costs of
payments on a first mortgage and any subsequent mortgages directly
used to improve and upgrade the mobile/manufactured home park and/or
payments for maintenance and/or all reasonable and necessary operating
expenses, and at the same time ensure the landlord a just and reasonable
return, may appeal to the Rent Leveling Board for an increase in rental
income. The Rent Leveling Board, after a hearing, may grant the landlord
a rent increase to meet these requirements or needs after consideration
of the proofs presented by the landlord and the physical condition
of the mobile/manufactured home park. Prior to filing for any such
appeal to the Rent Leveling Board, the landlord shall post notice
of said appeal setting forth the basis for the appeal in a conspicuous
place in and about the mobile/manufactured home park. Each tenant
shall be served with written notice either in person or by certified
mail. The landlord shall thereafter notify each affected tenant, in
person or by certified mail, of the hearing date for the appeal and
post a notice of the hearing in a conspicuous place at the mobile/manufactured
home park for at least 10 days' prior to the hearing date. If
said increase is granted, it shall not be considered rental income
and shall not be calculated in allowable increases as otherwise set
forth in the chapter.
B.
Major improvements. A landlord may seek an additional charge for
major improvements. For the purposes set forth herein, a major improvement
shall be defined as a major improvement to a park system or facility
extending the useful life of its infrastructure, including but not
limited to streets, paving or curbing, water system, sewer or septic
system, clubhouse, tenant transportation vehicles, or swimming pool,
having a direct benefit to the tenants of the park. Applications for
major improvement surcharges may be granted upon the demonstration
by the landlord, to the satisfaction of the Rent Leveling Board, that
the improvement serves a direct benefit to the tenants, and that it
was more feasible to renovate or replace an existing object than repair
it. Any single renovation or improvement to the sanitary sewer or
septic system or water system having a cost in excess of $25,000 shall
be deemed a major improvement for purposes of this chapter, and such
improvement having a cost of less than $25,000 shall be considered
a utilities expense. Prior to filing an application with the Rent
Leveling Board, the landlord shall notify each tenant, by certified
mail, of the proposed additional charge due to the proposed major
improvement. In no event shall the debt service used to calculate
a major improvement surcharge exceed the prime rate plus 1%. The landlord
seeking a major improvement surcharge shall apply for said surcharge
to the Rent Leveling Board. After the hearing is scheduled, the Board
shall determine at the hearing, after the landlord has provided notice
of the application and hearing to the affected tenants by certified
mail, if said improvement is a major improvement, and, if so, if it
shall permit such increase to take place and any conditions thereof.
The tenant notice and application shall include the total cost of
the completed major improvement; the number of years of useful life
of the improvement for the purposes of depreciation based upon the
maximum term allowed under the Internal Revenue Code; the average
cost, including debt service, of the improvement (calculated by dividing
the cost of the major improvement by the total number of mobile home
spaces in the mobile/manufactured home park); and the major improvement
surcharge sought from each tenant. If said increase is granted, it
shall not be considered rental income and not calculated in allowable
increases as otherwise set forth in this chapter. In any event, no
increase granted by authority of this section shall exceed 10% of
the tenant's monthly rent, unless said increase or major improvement
is mandated by law.
C.
In the event that a landlord seeks an additional charge for any major
improvement, it shall be necessary for said landlord to produce actual
receipts and bills for the cost of said improvements, and testimony
as to those items will not be considered sufficient in and of itself
without the proper backup materials.
D.
In the event that a landlord is to seek an additional rent increase
based upon major improvements, the charge to be passed on to the tenant
shall be based upon the proportionate part of the useful life of said
major improvement rather than taking all of the improvement costs
in the year that the landlord seeks the rent increase.
E.
Loans. In the event that the financial information submitted by the
landlord reveals a loan made by the landlord or by someone having
an ownership interest in the landlord, if the landlord is a business
entity such as a partnership or a corporation, interest expense on
any such loan shall be computed based upon a rate not to exceed an
imputed rate equal to the prime lending rate charged by commercial
banks plus one percentage point.
F.
Related entity. In the event the landlord shall retain the services
of any related entity (meaning owned by the landlord or someone who
has an interest in the landlord as a partnership corporation), the
landlord shall provide proof that the cost of this service did not
exceed the fair market value of same by more than 5%. The proof requirement
established hereunder shall be satisfied by presenting three bids
from separate and unrelated vendors.
G.
Hearings. Any appeal or hardship rent increase application must be
filed 45 days' prior to the proposed hearing date. Any data which
the landlord seeks to rely upon before the Board shall be submitted
with the application in order to allow the Board adequate time to
review the data prior to the hearing. If the Board finds that it has
been given the proper and appropriate information prior to the hearing,
the Board may, in its discretion, agree to review additional data
at the time of the hearing not previously submitted. The Board would
make such determination based on the pertinence to the landlord's
appeal and the finding that the landlord was unable to submit the
information or material on a timely basis and was acting in good faith.
H.
The Rent Leveling Board shall take action and render a decision on
all applications presented to it within the following time limitations:
(1)
Major improvement applications. The Rent Leveling Board shall take
action and render a decision on all major improvement applications
within 90 days of the application date.
(2)
Utility increase applications. The Rent Leveling Board shall take
action and render a decision on all utility increase applications
within 60 days of the application date.
(3)
Hardship applications. The Rent Leveling Board shall take action
and render a decision on all hardship applications within 120 days
of the application date.
A.
There is hereby created a Rent Leveling Board within the Township
of Monroe.
B.
The Board shall consist of five members and two alternate members who shall serve in the event of absence or disqualification of a regular member. The members of the Board and the alternate members shall be appointed by the Mayor, with the advice and consent of the Township Council, and their terms of office shall be as follows: two members shall be appointed for a period of one year; two members shall be appointed for a period of two years; and one member shall be appointed for a period of three years. Both alternates shall be appointed for a period of two years. Each member shall serve without compensation. Two members and one alternate member shall be a tenant of a mobile/manufactured home park, and one member and one alternate member shall be a landlord or his or her designee of a mobile/manufactured home park, as that term is defined in § 243-1. Each nonlandlord member shall be a resident of the Township. Vacancies shall be filled for the balance of the term.
A.
The Rent Leveling Board is hereby granted and shall have and exercise,
in addition to other powers herein granted, all of the powers necessary
and appropriate to carry out and execute the purposes of this chapter,
including but not limited to the following:
(1)
To enforce such rules and regulations as promulgated by the Township
Council and Mayor, including the provisions of this chapter as it
deems necessary to implement the purposes of this chapter, which rules
and regulations shall have the force of law until revised, repealed
or amended, from time to time, by the Township Council.
(2)
To supply information and assistance to landlords, owners and tenants
to aid them in complying with the provisions of this chapter.
(3)
To hold hearings and adjudicate applications for additional rentals
or such other relief as herein provided.
B.
The Board shall, among its members, elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman
annually on January 1 to oversee the operation of the Board.
C.
The Board shall give both the landlord or owner and tenant reasonable
opportunity to be heard before making any determination and shall
base its determination on the relevant credible evidence before it.
D.
All meetings of the Rent Leveling Board shall be held at the Township
Municipal Building in the Township Municipal Court Room. In the event
that there are no pending applications, the Board Chairman shall cancel
a scheduled meeting and shall provide public notice of such cancellation.
The Board shall meet once every other month. In the event a matter
before the Board requires attention sooner than the once-every-month
schedule, the Board shall be permitted to call a "special meeting"
in the discretion of the Board.
Both a landlord and tenant may appeal, in writing, the findings
of the Rent Leveling Board to the Township Council. The Township Council
shall hear the appeal at a regularly scheduled Council Meeting or
special meeting and render its written decision within 14 days of
the hearing.
A.
During the term of this chapter, the landlord shall maintain the
same standards of service, maintenance and equipment in the mobile/manufactured
home park or mobile home spaces as he provided or was required to
do by law or lease, written or unwritten, as of the date the tenancy
was entered into.
B.
Where the landlord fails to maintain such standards, any tenant may
appeal to the Rent Leveling Board for a reasonable reduction in rent,
commensurate with such failure by the landlord, whereupon the Rent
Leveling Board shall duly notify the landlord and schedule the matter
for a hearing before the Rent Leveling Board. If, as a result of such
hearing, a reasonable reduction in rent is granted, it shall remain
in effect until the landlord proves the standards are being maintained.
A finding of a willful violation of any provisions of this chapter
shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, in the discretion
of the Township Municipal Court. A violation affecting more than one
leasehold shall be considered a separate violation as to each leasehold.
A.
Upon the transfer of title to new tenants or upon the voluntary, uncoerced vacating or court-ordered eviction, or a repossession of any mobile home by a lender holding a secured interest in same located on any mobile home space for which rent increases are controlled by the terms of this chapter and upon compliance with Subsections A and B below, at the time of the rerental of a rental unit, the rental increase restrictions of this chapter shall not apply, and a landlord shall be entitled to apply this market adjustment provision for the rent to be charged for that mobile home space.
B.
These market adjustment provisions shall not apply: a) where a landlord-tenant
relationship exists between the landlord and the proposed new tenant
where that tenant is transferring to a new rental unit owned by the
same landlord on the same property, and b) for any subsequent rental
increase for the market-adjusted rental unit unless there is another,
separate vacancy event as described in the first sentence of this
section. Further clarifying this item b), if a multiyear lease is
proposed for a market-adjusted rental unit, only the initial rent
set forth in such lease is subject to market adjustment. All subsequent
rentals charged, even those set forth within the multiyear lease,
must comply with the rental restrictions of this chapter.
C.
When seeking to implement a market adjustment, the landlord shall
comply with each of the following:
(1)
The landlord shall file with the Rent Leveling Board a certification,
in such form as prescribed by the Board and signed by the landlord,
that the surrender of possession by the vacating tenant was voluntary
and uncoerced or pursuant to a lawful court-ordered eviction or repossession.
(2)
The landlord shall file with the Rent Leveling Board the name and
address of the vacating tenant, the then current rental amount of
the vacated mobile home space, an identification of the vacated mobile
home space and the rent to be charged to the new tenant.
