Jersey City Council Movesโค to Clarify Fines for Negligent Landlords, Citing Court Delays
Jersey โCityโ officials are seeking โขto streamline code enforcement against landlords through an ordinance clarifyingโ per-day fines and addressing inconsistencies in municipal court โprocedures. Tehโข move comesโ asโฃ the city grapples with protracted legal battles, notably โconcerning conditions at the Portside Towers complex.
During a recent council meeting, the citySโข Office of Code Compliance detailed challenges in prosecuting violations, noting that โsome municipalโข court judgesโฃ requireโ separate โขtrials for each day of a violation, while others demand โฃnew summonses. Ordinance 3.5, amending Chapters 1, 218,โฃ and 254, establishes a โclear per-day fine of $2,500, aiming โto standardize penalties.
“You canโ imagine the โfrustration that one has in gettingโ through code enforcement quickly,” said city representative Hudnut,โข adding that all ordinances โagainst Portside Towers are currently in the pre-trial phase, โwith the โnext trial date set for October 23rd. He revealed it took nearly โtwo months to consolidate 150 summonses beforeโฃ aโ single municipal court judge.
Hudnut highlighted the increasing โcomplexity of these cases,stating,”As we get tougher onโฃ code enforcement,they’re hiring better โand better lawyers and they’re asserting all their revelation rights.” He further โฃemphasized the slow paceโค of justice, commenting, “I resolved homicides in less time โขitโ takes to resolve codeโข enforcement in the โmunicipal court.”
Soโข far this year, the Office โคof Code Compliance has issued 13,681 summonses, compared to 18,299 for all of last year. While the office typically plea-bargains most cases, Hudnut acknowledged difficulties in holding landlords accountable, particularlyโค those operating through โขLimited Liability Companies (LLCs).
“These LLCs make it nearly unfeasible to bring in a human being to court.โข Most of these LLCs ignoreโฃ the summonsesโค until โtheyโค seeโ a human being’s name written as a โcare of,” Hudnut stated. He noted that a bill sponsored by State Senator Brian โStack,which passed the full Senate,aims to require LLCs to identify a โคhuman representative.
Theโฃ city pursues default judgments and liens โคagainstโ defendants who fail to pay fines or appear in court. โTrials are held in absentia against LLCs, and judgments are sent to โขthe Law Departmentโ for enforcement. Approximately 10โค to 20 percent of casesโ proceed to trial.