Bill Text: NJ A3439 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires owners of multiple dwellings with at least nine units to provide certain maintenance services; permits municipalities to require owners of multiple dwellings with six to eight units to provide these services.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-01 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Housing Committee [A3439 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A3439-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman BENJIE E. WIMBERLY
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
SYNOPSIS
Requires owners of multiple dwellings with at least nine units to provide certain maintenance services; permits municipalities to require owners of multiple dwellings with six to eight units to provide these services.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act requiring certain maintenance services to be provided in certain multiple dwellings and supplementing P.L.1967, c.76 (C.55:13A-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The owner of a multiple dwelling with nine or more dwelling units shall provide the following maintenance services in the multiple dwelling:
(1) Setting out and returning waste disposal receptacles, including storing away receptacles on days when there is no waste pickup;
(2) Providing regular daily care for all common areas, including the removal of garbage, litter, or other accumulations;
(3) Attending to sidewalks, pedestrian walkways, parking areas, and driveways, including the removal of snow and ice to permit safe passage in and out of the premises for vehicles and pedestrians;
(4) Operating the equipment designed to provide heat; and
(5) Any other routine operational and maintenance service required of the owner pursuant to the "Hotel and Multiple Dwelling Law," P.L.1967, c.76 (C.55:13A-1 et seq.).
b. The maintenance services required under subsection a. of this section may be performed by:
(1) the owner if the owner resides in the multiple dwelling;
(2) maintenance staff or a maintenance service provider who resides in the multiple dwelling; or
(3) off-site maintenance staff or an off-site maintenance service provider who either: (a) is located within one block or 200 feet of the multiple dwelling, whichever is greater; or (b) provides maintenance services on a 24-hour a day basis in a manner determined by the commissioner.
c. A person designated to provide maintenance services pursuant to subsection b. of this section, if different from the owner, shall be, concurrently with and to the same extent as the owner, responsible for complying with any requirement of, or order issued pursuant to, this section, and liable for any penalty for a violation thereof.
d. (1) The owner, or an agent thereof, shall post, in the same location and manner as a certificate of registration pursuant to subsection a. of section 12 of P.L.1967, c.76 (C.55:13A-12), a sign that contains the name, address, and telephone number of the person or provider, as applicable, designated to provide maintenance services pursuant to subsection b. of this section.
(2) The owner, or an agent thereof, shall post an updated sign within five days following a change in any of the information required under paragraph (1) of this subsection.
e. A municipality may adopt and enforce an ordinance imposing the requirements of this section on owners of multiple dwellings with six to eight dwelling units.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would codify current regulations requiring owners of multiple dwellings with at least nine dwelling units to provide certain maintenance services. The bill also would allow municipalities to impose these maintenance requirements on multiple dwellings with at least six dwelling units.
The maintenance services required under the bill include:
(1) setting out and returning waste disposal receptacles;
(2) daily care of all common areas;
(3) maintaining sidewalks, pedestrian walkways, parking areas, and driveways, including snow and ice removal;
(4) operating the heating equipment; and
(5) any other routine operational and maintenance service required under the "Hotel and Multiple Dwelling Law," P.L.1967, c.76 (C.55:13A-1 et seq.).
Under the bill, the required maintenance services may be performed by either: (1) a resident owner; (2) resident maintenance personnel; or (3) an off-site maintenance service provider located within one block or 200 feet of the multiple dwelling, whichever distance is greater. If someone other than the owner is designated to provide these maintenance services, that person would be, concurrently with and to the same extent as the owner, responsible for complying with any requirement under the bill and liable for any penalty for a violation thereof.
The bill also requires the owner to post, alongside the multiple dwelling certificate of registration, a sign that contains the contact information of the person designated to provide the required maintenance services. This sign would have to be updated within five days of any change in this information.
