[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Bradley
Beach by Ord. No. 2000-04 (Sec. 12-11 of the 1974 Code).
Amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to establish a procedure for fair and
adequate treatment of tenants displaced from their homes as a result of zoning
or code enforcement activities for illegal occupancy. The purpose is to provide
such penalties as are allowable under N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1g and to enable the
Borough to recover costs which arise and penalties which are allowable for
violations. The Borough finds that this action is in accordance with the interests
of the public welfare.
Any residential tenant who receives a notice of eviction pursuant to
N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.2 that results from zoning or code enforcement activity
for an illegal occupancy, as set forth in N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1(g)(3), shall
be considered a displaced person and shall be entitled to relocation assistance
in an amount equal to six times the monthly rental paid by the displaced person.
The owner and/or landlord of the structure shall be liable for the payment
of relocation assistance.
If the owner and/or landlord fails to pay relocation assistance to any
displaced person at the time of the eviction, the Borough of Bradley Beach
may pay the relocation assistance to said person(s) from a Revolving Relocation
Assistance Fund herein established pursuant to N.J.S.A. 20:4-4.1a. All relocation
assistance costs incurred by the Borough shall be repaid by the owner of the
structure. These repayments shall be deposited into the Borough's Revolving
Relocation Assistance Fund.
A.
In addition to repayment of the relocation assistance
costs by the owner and/or landlord to the Borough or tenant, an additional
fine for zoning or housing code violations for illegal occupancy, up to an
amount equal to six times the monthly rental paid by the displaced person,
shall be paid to the Borough by the owner of the structure.
B.
In addition to this penalty, after affording the owner/landlord
an opportunity for a hearing on the matter, which hearing shall be held before
the Mayor and Council, the Borough may impose an additional penalty of a fine
equal to the annual tuition cost of any resident of the illegally occupied
unit attending a public school, which fine shall be recovered in a civil action
by a summary proceeding in the name of the municipality pursuant to the Penalty
Enforcement Law of 1999, N.J.S.A. 2A:58-10 et seq. This additional penalty
may be imposed for a second or subsequent violation for an illegal occupancy.
The Municipal Court and the Superior Court shall have jurisdiction of the
proceedings for the enforcement of the penalty in this section. The tuition
costs shall be determined in the manner prescribed for nonresident pupils
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:38-19, and the payment of the fine shall be permitted
to the appropriate school district.[1]
A.
For the purposes of this chapter, the owner/landlord
of a structure shall exclude mortgagees in possession of a structure through
foreclosure.
B.
For the purposes of this chapter, a second or subsequent
violation for an illegal occupancy shall be limited to those violations that
are new and are a result of distinct and separate zoning or code enforcement
activities and shall not include any continuing violations for which citations
are issued by a zoning or code enforcement agent during the time period required
for summary dispossession proceedings to conclude if the owner has initiated
eviction proceedings in a court of proper jurisdiction.
In the event that the owner of the structure fails to repay the Borough
within 10 days after the due date, interest shall accrue on the unpaid balance
at the rate of 18% per annum, and the unpaid balance and all interest accruing
thereon shall be a lien on the parcel. The Borough may also seek recovery
of the unpaid balance and all interest accrued thereon, together with attorney's
fees and costs, in a civil action as a personal debt of the owner of real
property.
