[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 833

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 26, 1996

By Senator BUBBA

An Act concerning certain rental properties and amending P.L.1974, c.49 and P.L.1993, c.127.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. Section 1 of P.L.1993, c.127 (C.40:48-2.12n) is amended to read as follows:

    1. The Legislature finds, determines and declares:  

    a. Many of the shore resort and other communities in this State, and the residents thereof, have experienced disturbances, damage and public expense resulting from carelessly granted and inadequately supervised [seasonal] rentals to irresponsible [vacationers] tenants by inept or indifferent landlords.

    b. To preserve the peace and tranquility of those communities [for their permanent residents, and to maintain their viability as vacation spots not only for citizens of this State but also for persons and families from far and near whom the beauties and pleasures of the New Jersey shore have historically attracted], it is necessary and desirable that those communities have adequate means to curb and discourage those occasional excesses arising from irresponsible [seasonal] rentals.

    c. Accordingly, it is the purpose of this legislation to enable [such] communities faced with the problems arising from such rentals to take effective action to assure that excesses, when they occur, shall not be repeated, and that landlords [offering seasonal] of these rentals be held to sufficient standards of responsibility.

(cf: P.L.1993, c.127, s.1)

    2. Section 2 of P.L.1993, c.127 (C.40:48-2.12o) is amended to read as follows:

    2. As used in this act:  

    "Hearing officer" means a person designated pursuant to subsection b. of section 3 of this act to hear and determine proceedings under this act.

    "Landlord" means 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 (C.55:13A-1 et seq.), and owner-occupied two-unit premises. In the case of a mobile home park, "landlord" shall mean the owner of an individual dwelling unit within the mobile home park.

    ["Seasonal rental"]"Rental" means 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].

    "Substantiated complaint" means a complaint which may form the basis for proceedings in accordance with subsection a. of section 4 of this act.

(cf: P.L.1993, c.127, s.2)

    3. Section 3 of P.L.1993, c.127 is (C.40:48-2.12p) amended to read as follows:

    3. a. Any municipality [in a county of the fifth or sixth class] may enact an ordinance holding landlords of [seasonal] rentals to standards of responsibility in the selection of tenants and supervision of the rental premises, requiring that under certain circumstances, as hereinafter in this act described, such landlords may be required to post adequate bond against the consequences of disorderly behavior of their tenants, and in the case of subsequent violations forfeit such bond, in whole or part, in compensation for the consequences of such behavior.

    b. To assure impartiality in the administration of such an ordinance, the municipal governing body shall make provision for the hearings and decisions held and made thereunder to be conducted and decided by a licensed attorney of this State who shall not be an owner or lessee of any real property within the municipality, nor hold any interest in the assets of or profits arising from the ownership or lease of such property.

(cf: P.L.1993, c.127, s.3)

    4. Section 4 of P.L.1993, c.127 (C.40:48-2.12q) is amended to read as follows:

    4. An ordinance adopted under authority of this section shall provide:

    a. If in any one year a specified number, which shall not be less than three, of 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 ¹[those premises] the housing or apartment unit¹, have been substantiated by prosecution and conviction in any court of competent jurisdiction, the municipal governing body or any officer or employee of the municipality designated by the governing body for the purpose, may institute proceedings to require the landlord of those premises to post a bond against the consequences of future incidents of the same character.

    b. The governing body or person designated pursuant to subsection a. of this section 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 complaints upon which those proceedings are based, and of the time and place at which a hearing will be held in the matter, which shall be in the municipal building, municipal court or other public place within the municipality, 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. of this section, 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 the ordinance. ¹The hearing officer shall not require a landlord to post a bond if the landlord demonstrates that he has sought or is seeking to evict the tenant on the basis of the complained behavior.¹

    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 possession of their premises, (2) securing the payment of fines and penalties likely to be levied for such offenses, and (3) compensating the municipality for the costs of repressing and prosecuting such incidents of disorderly behavior; but no such bond shall be in an amount less than $500 or more than $5,000. The municipality may enforce the 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. A bond or other security deposited in compliance with subsection d. of this section shall remain in force for a period specified pursuant to the ordinance, which shall be not less than two or more than four years. Upon the lapse of the specified period the landlord shall be entitled to the discharge thereof, unless prior thereto further proceedings leading to a forfeiture or partial forfeiture of the bond or other security shall have been had under section 5 of this act, in which case the security shall be renewed, in an amount and for a period that shall be specified by the hearing officer.

(cf: P.L.1993, c.127, s.4)

    5. Section 2 of P.L.1974, c.49 (C.2A:18-61.1) is amended to read as follows:

    2. No lessee or tenant or the assigns, under-tenants or legal representatives of such lessee or tenant may be removed by the Superior Court from any house, building, mobile home or land in a mobile home park or tenement leased for residential purposes, other than (1) owner-occupied premises with not more than two rental units or a hotel, motel or other guest house or part thereof rented to a transient guest or seasonal tenant; (2) a dwelling unit which is held in trust on behalf of a member of the immediate family of the person or persons establishing the trust, provided that the member of the immediate family on whose behalf the trust is established permanently occupies the unit; and (3) a dwelling unit which is permanently occupied by a member of the immediate family of the owner of that unit, provided, however, that exception (2) or (3) shall apply only in cases in which the member of the immediate family has a developmental disability, except upon establishment of one of the following grounds as good cause:

     a. The person fails to pay rent due and owing under the lease whether the same be oral or written.

    b. The person has continued to be, after written notice to cease, so disorderly as to destroy the peace and quiet of the occupants or other tenants living in said house or neighborhood.

    c. The person has willfully or by reason of gross negligence caused or allowed destruction, damage or injury to the premises.

    d. The person has continued, after written notice to cease, to substantially violate or breach any of the landlord's rules and regulations governing said premises, provided such rules and regulations are reasonable and have been accepted in writing by the tenant or made a part of the lease at the beginning of the lease term.

    e. The person has continued, after written notice to cease, to substantially violate or breach any of the covenants or agreements contained in the lease for the premises where a right of reentry is reserved to the landlord in the lease for a violation of such covenant or agreement, provided that such covenant or agreement is reasonable and was contained in the lease at the beginning of the lease term.

    f. The person has failed to pay rent after a valid notice to quit and notice of increase of said rent, provided the increase in rent is not unconscionable and complies with any and all other laws or municipal ordinances governing rent increases.

    g. The landlord or owner (1) seeks to permanently board up or demolish the premises because he has been cited by local or State housing inspectors for substantial violations affecting the health and safety of tenants and it is economically unfeasible for the owner to eliminate the violations; (2) seeks to comply with local or State housing inspectors who have cited him for substantial violations affecting the health and safety of tenants and it is unfeasible to so comply without removing the tenant; simultaneously with service of notice of eviction pursuant to this clause, the landlord shall notify the Department of Community Affairs of the intention to institute proceedings and shall provide the department with such other information as it may require pursuant to rules and regulations. The department shall inform all parties and the court of its view with respect to the feasibility of compliance without removal of the tenant and may in its discretion appear and present evidence; (3) seeks to correct an illegal occupancy because he has been cited by local or State housing inspectors or zoning officers and it is unfeasible to correct such illegal occupancy without removing the tenant; or (4) is a governmental agency which seeks to permanently retire the premises from the rental market pursuant to a redevelopment or land clearance plan in a blighted area. In those cases where the tenant is being removed for any reason specified in this subsection, no warrant for possession shall be issued until P.L.1967, c.79 (C.52:31B-1 et seq.) and P.L.1971, c.362 (C.20:4-1 et seq.) have been complied with.

    h. The owner seeks to retire permanently the residential building or the mobile home park from residential use or use as a mobile home park, provided this subsection shall not apply to circumstances covered under subsection g. of this section.

     i. The landlord or owner proposes, at the termination of a lease, reasonable changes of substance in the terms and conditions of the lease, including specifically any change in the term thereof, which the tenant, after written notice, refuses to accept; provided that in cases where a tenant has received a notice of termination pursuant to subsection g. of section 3 of P.L.1974, c.49 (C.2A:18-61.2), or has a protected tenancy status pursuant to section 9 of the "Senior Citizens and Disabled Protected Tenancy Act," P.L.1981, c.226 (C.2A:18-61.30), or pursuant to the "Tenant Protection Act of 1992," P.L.1991, c.509 (C.2A:18-61.40 et al.), the landlord or owner shall have the burden of proving that any change in the terms and conditions of the lease, rental or regulations both is reasonable and does not substantially reduce the rights and privileges to which the tenant was entitled prior to the conversion.

    j. The person, after written notice to cease, has habitually and without legal justification failed to pay rent which is due and owing.

    k. The landlord or owner of the building or mobile home park is converting from the rental market to a condominium, cooperative or fee simple ownership of two or more dwelling units or park sites, except as hereinafter provided in subsection l. of this section. Where the tenant is being removed pursuant to this subsection, no warrant for possession shall be issued until this act has been complied with. No action for possession shall be brought pursuant to this subsection against a senior citizen tenant or disabled tenant with protected tenancy status pursuant to the "Senior Citizens and Disabled Protected Tenancy Act," P.L.1981, c.226 (C.2A:18-61.22 et al.), or against a qualified tenant under the "Tenant Protection Act of 1992," P.L.1991, c.509 (C.2A:18-61.40 et al.), as long as the agency has not terminated the protected tenancy status or the protected tenancy period has not expired.

    l. (1) The owner of a building or mobile home park, which is constructed as or being converted to a condominium, cooperative or fee simple ownership, seeks to evict a tenant or sublessee whose initial tenancy began after the master deed, agreement establishing the cooperative or subdivision plat was recorded, because the owner has contracted to sell the unit to a buyer who seeks to personally occupy it and the contract for sale calls for the unit to be vacant at the time of closing. However, no action shall be brought against a tenant under paragraph (1) of this subsection unless the tenant was given a statement in accordance with section 6 of P.L.1975, c.311 (C.2A:18-61.9);

    (2) The owner of three or less condominium or cooperative units seeks to evict a tenant whose initial tenancy began by rental from an owner of three or less units after the master deed or agreement establishing the cooperative was recorded, because the owner seeks to personally occupy the unit, or has contracted to sell the unit to a buyer who seeks to personally occupy it and the contract for sale calls for the unit to be vacant at the time of closing;

    (3) The owner of a building of three residential units or less seeks to personally occupy a unit, or has contracted to sell the residential unit to a buyer who wishes to personally occupy it and the contract for sale calls for the unit to be vacant at the time of closing.

    m. The landlord or owner conditioned the tenancy upon and in consideration for the tenant's employment by the landlord or owner as superintendent, janitor or in some other capacity and such employment is being terminated.

    n. The person has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to, or if a juvenile, has been adjudicated delinquent on the basis of an act which if committed by an adult would constitute an offense under the "Comprehensive Drug Reform Act of 1987," N.J.S.2C:35-1 et al. involving the use, possession, manufacture, dispensing or distribution of a controlled dangerous substance, controlled dangerous substance analog or drug paraphernalia within the meaning of that act within or upon the leased premises or the building or complex of buildings and land appurtenant thereto, or the mobile home park, in which those premises are located, and has not in connection with his sentence for that offense either (1) successfully completed or (2) been admitted to and continued upon probation while completing, a drug rehabilitation program pursuant to N.J.S.2C:35-14; or, being the tenant or lessee of such leased premises, knowingly harbors or harbored therein a person who has been so convicted or has so pleaded, or otherwise permits or permitted such a person to occupy those premises for residential purposes, whether continuously or intermittently, except that this subsection shall not apply to a person harboring or permitting a juvenile to occupy the premises if the juvenile has been adjudicated delinquent upon the basis of an act which if committed by an adult would constitute the offense of use or possession under the said act. No action for removal may be brought pursuant to this subsection more than two years after the date of the adjudication or conviction or more than two years after the person's release from incarceration whichever is the later.

    o. The person has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to, or if a juvenile, has been adjudicated delinquent on the basis of an act which if committed by an adult would constitute an offense under N.J.S.2C:12-1 or N.J.S.2C:12-3 involving assault, or terroristic threats against the landlord, a member of the landlord's family or an employee of the landlord; or, being the tenant or lessee of such leased premises, knowingly harbors or harbored therein a person who has been so convicted or has so pleaded, or otherwise permits or permitted such a person to occupy those premises for residential purposes, whether continuously or intermittently. No action for removal may be brought pursuant to this subsection more than two years after the adjudication or conviction or more than two years after the person's release from incarceration whichever is the later.

    p. The person has been found, by a preponderance of the evidence, liable in a civil action for removal commenced under this act for an offense under N.J.S.2C:12-1 or N.J.S.2C:12-3 involving assault or terroristic threats against the landlord, a member of the landlord's family or an employee of the landlord, or under the "Comprehensive Drug Reform Act of 1987," N.J.S.2C:35-1 et al., involving the use, possession, manufacture, dispensing or distribution of a controlled dangerous substance, controlled dangerous substance analog or drug paraphernalia within the meaning of that act within or upon the leased premises or the building or complex of buildings and land appurtenant thereto, or the mobile home park, in which those premises are located, and has not in connection with his sentence for that offense either (1) successfully completed or (2) been admitted to and continued upon probation while completing a drug rehabilitation program pursuant to N.J.S.2C:35-14; or, being the tenant or lessee of such leased premises, knowingly harbors or harbored therein a person who committed such an offense, or otherwise permits or permitted such a person to occupy those premises for residential purposes, whether continuously or intermittently, except that this subsection shall not apply to a person who harbors or permits a juvenile to occupy the premises if the juvenile has been adjudicated delinquent upon the basis of an act which if committed by an adult would constitute the offense of use or possession under the said "Comprehensive Drug Reform Act of 1987."

    q. The landlord has been required to post bond against the consequences of a tenant's disorderly behavior pursuant to P.L.1993, c.127 (C.40:48-2.12n et seq.).

    ¹r. The person has been convicted in a court of competent jurisdiction of three or more separate complaints of disorderly, indecent, tumultuous or riotous conduct upon or in proximity to the rental premises.¹

    For purposes of this section, (1) "developmental disability" means any disability which is defined as such pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1977, c.82 (C.30:6D-3); (2) "member of the immediate family" means a person's spouse, parent, child or sibling, or a spouse, parent, child or sibling of any of them; and (3) "permanently" occupies or occupied means that the occupant maintains no other domicile at which the occupant votes, pays rent or property taxes or at which rent or property taxes are paid on the occupant's behalf.

(cf: P.L.1995, c.269, s.1)

    6. This act shall take effect immediately.