[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Passaic 4-2-1987
as Ord. No. 971-87. Amendments noted where applicable.]
On and after the effective date of this chapter, all licensed real estate
practitioners operating within the City of Passaic shall be required to be
registered with the Department of Community Development. Such registration
shall be made on forms provided by the Department of Community Development
and shall include:
A.
The name, business address and business telephone number
of the real estate firm.
B.
The name, address, telephone number and social security
number of all principals of such firm.
C.
The name and social security number of each licensed
employee of the firm.
D.
Such other information as the Department of Community
Development shall determine.
Such registration shall be subject to renewal by January 31 of each
year. Renewal shall require filing of a new registration form and payment
of the required fee.
The fee for the initial registration shall be $50 for each firm with
three or more employees, including the principal, and $25 for each firm with
fewer than three employees. Renewal fees shall be $25 for firms with three
or more employees and $15 for firms with fewer than three employees. Fees
are for the calendar year, and there shall be no proration thereof.
Any change in the principals of any firm during any year shall require
the filing of a new registration and payment of the initial registration fee.
Any change in employees shall require filing of notification of change listing
employees added or deleted. Such notification shall be filed within 10 days
of the date of employment or date of termination of any employee. It shall
be a violation of chapter for any employee of a real estate firm to engage
in any aspect of real estate activities until such person is registered with
the Department of Community Development.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall
have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this chapter:
Door-to-door soliciting by the use of circulars, visitations or any
other means where the canvasser or his employer has not been invited or requested
by the owner, as defined below, to obtain a listing of a real property or
to confer with the owner regarding a real estate transaction. The term "canvassing,"
as defined, shall not apply when such soliciting is restricted to a specific
house on a particular day, nor shall it apply when a property owner has publicly
advertised his house or real property for sale.
The lessee, sublessee, assignee, managing agent or other person having
the right of ownership or possession or the right to sell, rent or lease any
real property.
Any firm, association, partnership or corporation, as well as a natural
person. The term "person," as applied to partnerships or other associations,
includes their members and, as applied to firms and corporations, includes
their officers and employees.
Any occupant, prospective occupant, lessee, prospective lessee, buyer,
prospective buyer or any agent of these.
A.
Prior to undertaking or engaging in any activities to
canvass in the city in an attempt to obtain listings of real property or in
an attempt to bring about the sale or purchase of real property, any licensed
real estate practitioner or employee or agent thereof shall file a notice
of intent to canvass with the Department of Community Development of the City
of Passaic. Such notice shall obtain the following information:
B.
Such notice shall be completed and filed with the Department
of Community Development no fewer than 20 days nor more than 30 days prior
to the date on which the canvass will take place.
It shall be unlawful for any person to commit any one or more of the
following acts:
A.
To induce, directly or indirectly, or attempt to induce,
directly or indirectly, the sale or listing for the sale of real property
by representing that an adverse change has occurred or will or may occur with
respect to the racial, religious or ethnic composition of the block, neighborhood
or area in which the property is located.
B.
To induce, directly or indirectly, or attempt to induce,
directly or indirectly, the sale or listing for sale of real property by representing
that the presence or anticipated presence of persons of any particular race,
religion or national origin in the area will or may result in:
C.
To make any misrepresentations concerning the listing
for sale or the anticipated listing for sale or the sale of real property
in the area for the purpose of inducing or attempting to induce the sale or
listing for sale of real property.
D.
To make any representation to any prospective purchaser
that any block, neighborhood or area has, will or might undergo an adverse
change with respect to the religious, racial or ethnic composition of the
block, neighborhood or area for the purpose of discouraging the purchase of
property in a particular area.
E.
To place a sign purporting to offer for sale any property
that is not in fact offered for sale.
F.
To advertise for sale or rental property which is nonexistent
or which is not actually for sale or rental.
G.
To engage in or hire or conspire vith others to commit
acts or activities of any nature, the purpose of which is to coerce, cause
panic, incite unrest, create or play upon fear with the purpose of inducing
or attempting to induce the sale or listing for sale of real property.
H.
To solicit a listing from any homeowner who has previously
requested, in writing, that such person refrain from soliciting such homeowner.
I.
To engage in any economic reprisal or any other form
of intimidation against any person because that person has filed a complaint,
testified, assisted or participated in any manner in any investigation, proceeding
or conference under the terms of this chapter.
J.
To aid, abet, incite, compel or coerce any person to
engage in any of the practices forbidden by this chapter or to obstruct or
prevent any person from complying with the provisions of this chapter.
A.
The Director of the Department of Community Development
shall have the following functions, powers and duties, in addition to those
provided otherwise by law:
(1)
To adopt, promulgate, amend and rescind suitable rules
and regulations to carry out the provisions of this chapter, provided that
such rules and regulations shall be approved by the Council and, upon approval,
filed with the Clerk.
(2)
To receive and investigate complaints alleging violations
of the provisions of this chapter.
(3)
To hold conferences and make investigations and, for
this purpose, to call upon municipal officials and employees to aid and assist
him therein.
(4)
To render each year to the Council a written report of
activities pertaining to this chapter.
B.
Any person claiming to be aggrieved by an alleged unlawful
practice forbidden by the provisions of this chapter may, by himself or by
his attorney at law, make, sign and file with the Director of the Department
of Community Development a verified complaint in writing which shall state
the name and address of the person alleged to have committed the unlawful
practice complained of and which shall set forth the particulars thereof and
contain such other information as may be reasonably required by the Director
of the Department of Community Development.
C.
After the filing of a complaint by an aggrieved person
or by any resident, the Director of the Department of Community Development
shall cause a prompt investigation to be made of the alleged unlawful practice.
D.
If, after such investigation, the Director of the Department
of Community Development shall determine that no probable cause exists for
crediting the allegations of the complaint, he shall, within 10 days from
such determination, cause to be issued and served upon the complainant written
notice of such determination.
E.
If, after such investigation, the Director of the Department of Community Development shall determine that probable cause exists in accordance with the allegations of the complaint, he may elect to take action as set forth in Subsection F below, or, in his discretion, he may endeavor to eliminate the unlawful practice complained of by conference and conciliation. Such conference shall be opened to the public unless otherwise requested by one or both of the parties to the conference.
F.
If the practice complained of is not eliminated, the
Director of the Department of Community Development may:
(1)
Refer the matter to the Real Estate Commission of the
state for such disciplinary action as may seem appropriate and make any records
available to the Commission as may relate to the matter, notwithstanding any
other action which the Director of the Department of Community Development
may take or may already have taken.
(2)
Sign a complaint against the alleged offending person
for trial before the Municipal Court.
(3)
Refer the entire file to the Municipal Prosecutor for
such action as he may deem proper or necessary in the circumstances.
G.
A person claiming to be aggrieved as set forth herein
may elect to file a complaint directly to the Municipal Court and prosecute
the same on his own behalf or to pursue any other proper procedure that he
may elect.
A.
Violation of any provision of this chapter shall be punishable
by a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 and imprisonment for
not more than 90 days.
B.
Each violation of a section or subsection of this chapter
shall constitute a separate and distinct violation independent of any other
section or subsection. Each day's violation of any section or subsection
of this Code shall constitute a separate violation.
