[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Lavallette.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Noise — See Ch. 43.
The Borough Council finds, determines and declares that:
A.
Lavallette is a resort community and its citizens have
experienced disturbances, damage and public expense resulting from carelessly
granted and inadequately supervised seasonal rentals to irresponsible vacationers
by inept or indifferent landlords.
B.
This chapter is enacted to preserve the peace and tranquility
of the community for its permanent residents, and to maintain the municipality
as a viable vacation resort for all persons and families availing themselves
of the facilities in the community.
C.
The enactment of this chapter is necessary and desirable
to provide a means to curb and discourage those occasional excesses arising
from irresponsible seasonal rentals.
D.
The Legislature of the State of New Jersey enacted N.J.S.A.
40:48-2.12n et seq. to enable certain communities to take effective action
to assure that excesses, when they occur, shall not be repeated, and that
landlords offering seasonal rentals be held to sufficient standards of responsibility.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following meanings shall apply:
A licensed attorney of the State of New Jersey appointed by the Mayor,
subject to the advice and consent of the Borough Council. The hearing officer
shall not own or lease any real property within the Borough of Lavallette,
nor hold any interest in the assets of or profits arising from the ownership
of such property. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:48-2.12o, the hearing officer is
the individual designated to hear and determine proceedings under this chapter.
The person or persons who own or purport to own any building in which
there is rented or offered for rent housing space for living or dwelling under
either a written or oral lease, including but not limited to any building
subject to the Hotel and Multiple Dwelling Law, P.L. 1967, c. 76 (N.J.S.A.
55:13A-1 et seq.), and owner-occupied two-unit premises. In the case of a
mobile home park, “landlord” means the owner of an individual
dwelling unit within the mobile home park.
Any rental of residential accommodations for a term of less than
one year and including any part of the period extending from May 15 to September
15.
A number of acts, which shall not be less than three, of disorderly,
indecent, tumultuous or riotous conduct upon or in proximity to any seasonal
rental premises, and attributable to the acts or incitements of any of the
tenants of those premises, which have been substantiated by prosecution and
conviction in any court of competent jurisdiction.
A.
If, in any one year, three complaints, on separate occasions,
of disorderly, indecent, tumultuous or riotous conduct upon or in proximity
to any seasonal rental premises, and 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 Borough Council
or any officer or employee of the Borough of Lavallette so designated by the
Borough Council for this purpose, may institute proceedings to require the
landlord of the seasonal rental premises to post a bond against the consequences
of future incidents of the same character.
B.
The Borough Council or any officer or employee of the
municipality designated by the Borough Council shall cause to be served upon
the landlord, in person or by registered mail, to the address appearing on
the tax records of the municipality, notice advising of the institution of
such proceedings, together with particulars of the substantiated complaint
upon which those proceedings are based, and of the time and place at which
the hearing will be held in the matter, which shall be in the Municipal Building,
Municipal Court or such other public place as designated by the Borough Council,
and which shall be no sooner than 30 days from the date upon which the notice
is served or mailed.
C.
At the hearing convened pursuant to Subsection B, above, the hearing officer shall give full hearing to both the complaint of the municipality and to any evidence in contradiction or mitigation that the landlord, if present or represented and offering such evidence, may present. 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 chapter.
D.
Any bond required to be posted shall be in accordance
with the judgment of the hearing officer, in light of the nature and extent
of the offenses indicated in the substantiated complaints upon which the proceedings
are based, to be adequate in the case of subsequent offenses to make reparation
for:
(1)
Damages likely to be caused to public or private property
and damages consequent upon disruption of affected residents' rights
of fair use and quiet enjoyment of their premises; and
(2)
Securing the payment of fines and penalties likely to
be levied for such offenses; and
(3)
Compensating the municipality for the costs of representing
and prosecuting such incidents of disorderly behavior; provided, however,
no such bond shall be in an amount less than $500 nor more than $5,000. The
municipality may enforce a bond thus required by action in the Superior Court,
and shall 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 municipality.
E.
Any bond or other security deposited in compliance with Subsection D, above, shall remain in force for a period of four years. Upon the lapse of the four-year period, the landlord shall be entitled to the discharge of the bond, unless prior thereto further proceedings leading to a forfeiture or partial forfeiture of the bond or other security shall have been had under § 51-4 below, in which case the security shall be renewed in an amount and for a period that shall be specified by the hearing officer. A transfer of ownership or control of the property shall not void a requirement for security imposed under this chapter. The person or persons to whom ownership or control is transferred shall maintain that security, and shall be subject to injunctive proceedings as authorized by Subsection D, above, in the same manner as the landlord upon which the requirement was originally imposed; provided, however, the Borough Council may by resolution shorten the period for which security is required to not less than one year from the date of the transfer of ownership or control, if during that year no substantiated complaints are recorded with respect to the property in question.
A.
If, during the period for which a landlord is required to give security pursuant to § 51-3 above, a substantiated complaint is recorded against the property in question, the Borough Council or its designee may institute proceedings against the landlord for the forfeiture or partial forfeiture of the security, for an extension as provided in § 51-3E, above, of the period for which the security is required, or for an increase in the amount of security required, or for any or all of those purposes.
B.
Any forfeiture or partial forfeiture of security shall be determined by the hearing officer solely in accordance with the amount deemed necessary to provide for the compensatory purposes set forth in § 51-3D above. Any decision by the hearing officer to increase the amount or extend the period of the required security shall be determined in light of the same factors set forth in § 51-3D above, and shall be taken only to the extent that the nature of the substantiated complaint or complaints out of which proceedings arise under this section indicates the appropriateness of such change in order to effectually carry out the purposes of this chapter. The decision of the hearing officer in such circumstances shall be enforceable in the same manner as provided in § 51-3D above.
