Mayor Steven M. Fulop and the City Council have announced a tougher approach in holding negligent landlords accountable, reports say.
According to reports, the new ordinance establishes a revolving Relocation Assistance Fund, which will provide the funding for safe housing to eligible tenants whose landlords who fail to correct severe violations of housing and construction codes.
Reports say that those delinquent landlords who fail to rectify the cited violations and/or pay associated fines within 10 days of the court’s adjudication will now result in a lien on the property.
“We’re cracking down on negligent landlords whose tenants all too often are left with poor, and sometimes dangerous, living conditions,” said Mayor Fulop. “This is an extension of our recent efforts to tackle quality of life issues and take a stand for the otherwise voiceless. No one in Jersey City will be left displaced or without a home due to their landlord’s negligence.”
Once City inspectors identify a property with imminent hazards resulting in multiple violations, the City’s Office of Housing Preservation and the Office of Community Development work with tenants in need of relocation, reports stated. Simultaneously, the absentee landlords are notified that their property is condemned for violations and are fined.
The property owner is responsible for covering all costs associated with finding alternative housing for their tenants, eliminating taxpayer burden.
“With this ordinance, we will hold the worst, repeat-offender landlords accountable while providing habitable alternatives for the tenants that we are standing up for,” said Jersey City Chief Prosecutor Jake Hudnut, Chair of the Mayor’s QOL Task Force. “With the ability to place liens on properties when necessary, we’ll recoup the costs of relocation from more landlords. And the best part: we will now be able to do these necessary relocations at zero cost to the city.”
Mayor Fulop’s Quality of Life Task Force has been instrumental in identifying a variety of problems affecting the health, life, and safety of Jersey City residents, according to reports.
Specifically, the City is working directly with the Municipal Court to hold repeat offending landlords accountable in maintaining safe living spaces for their tenants. When the residence is deemed uninhabitable, the City assists residents in finding new, safe housing immediately, reports say.
“The City works diligently to track down these repeat offenders who aren’t properly maintaining their properties or being responsive to their tenants. With our recent success, we now need to make sure the innocent tenants are taken care of,” said Dinah Hendon, Director of Housing Preservation. “This relocation fund holds the landlords accountable and strictly enforces their obligation to cover all costs endured throughout the process.”