§ 61-30. Establishment of MHL position; compensation; powers and duties.

A. 

Establishment of position of MHL. There is hereby established the position of MHL for the Borough.

B. 

The MHL shall be appointed by the Mayor with the consent of the Council and may be a full- or part-time employee.

C. 

The MHL shall be responsible for oversight and administration of the Borough's affordable housing program, including the following responsibilities, which may not be contracted out:

(1) 

Serving as the Borough's primary point of contact for all inquiries from the state, affordable housing providers, administrative agents, and interested households;

(2) 

Monitoring the status of all restricted units in the Borough's fair share plan;

(3) 

Compiling, verifying, and submitting semiannual reports as required by applicable law;

(4) 

Coordinating meetings with affordable housing providers and administrative agents, as applicable;

(5) 

Attending continuing education opportunities as offered or approved by the state;

(6) 

If applicable, serving as the administrative agent for some or all of the restricted units in the Borough as described in Subsection F below.

D. 

The Borough may contract with or authorize a consultant, authority, government or any agency charged by the Mayor and Council, which entity shall have the responsibility of administering the affordable housing program of the Borough, except for those responsibilities which may not be contracted out pursuant to Subsection C above. If the Borough contracts with another entity to administer all or any part of the affordable housing program, including the affordability controls and affirmative marketing plan, the MHL shall supervise the contracting administrative agent.

E. 

Compensation shall be fixed by the governing body at the time of the appointment of the MHL. In the event that the MHL is already a full-time employee of the Borough, the Mayor and Council may determine to include the duties of the MHL as part of the employee's current duties without additional compensation.

F. 

Administrative powers and duties assigned to the administrative agent:

(1) 

Affirmative marketing:

(a) 

Conducting an outreach process to ensure affirmative marketing of affordable housing units in accordance with the affirmative marketing plan of the Borough and the provisions of N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.15; and

(b) 

Providing counseling or contracting to provide counseling services to low- and moderate-income applicants on subjects such as budgeting, credit issues, mortgage qualification, rental lease requirements, and landlord/tenant law.

(2) 

Household certification:

(a) 

Soliciting, scheduling, conducting and following up on interviews with interested households;

(b) 

Conducting interviews and obtaining sufficient documentation of gross income and assets upon which to base a determination of income eligibility for a low- or moderate-income unit;

(c) 

Providing written notification to each applicant as to the determination of eligibility or noneligibility;

(d) 

Requiring that all certified applicants for restricted units execute a certificate substantially in the form, as applicable, of either the ownership or rental certificates set forth in Appendixes J and K of N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.1 et seq.;

(e) 

Creating and maintaining a referral list of eligible applicant households living in the housing region and eligible applicant households with members working in the housing region where the units are located; and

(f) 

Employing the random selection process as provided in the affirmative marketing plan of the Borough when referring households for certification to affordable units.

(3) 

Affordability controls:

(a) 

Furnishing to attorneys or closing agents forms of deed restrictions and mortgages for recording at the time of conveyance of title of each restricted unit;

(b) 

Creating and maintaining a file on each restricted unit for its control period, including the recorded deed with restrictions, recorded mortgage and note, as appropriate;

(c) 

Ensuring that the removal of the deed restrictions and cancellation of the mortgage note are effectuated and properly filed with the appropriate county's register of deeds or county clerk's office after the termination of the affordability controls for each restricted unit;

(d) 

Communicating with lenders regarding foreclosures; and

(e) 

Ensuring the issuance of continuing certificates of occupancy or certifications pursuant to N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.10.

(4) 

Resale and rental:

(a) 

Instituting and maintaining an effective means of communicating information between owners and the administrative agent regarding the availability of restricted units for resale or rental; and

(b) 

Instituting and maintaining an effective means of communicating information to low- and moderate-income households regarding the availability of restricted units for resale or rental.

(5) 

Processing requests from unit owners:

(a) 

Reviewing and approving requests for determination from owners of restricted units who wish to take out home equity loans or refinance during the term of their ownership that the amount of indebtedness to be incurred will not violate the terms of this article;

(b) 

Reviewing and approving requests to increase sales prices from owners of restricted units who wish to make capital improvements to the units that would affect the selling price, such authorizations to be limited to those improvements resulting in additional bedrooms or bathrooms and the cost of central air-conditioning systems; and

(c) 

Notifying the municipality of an owner's intent to sell a restricted unit; and

(d) 

Processing requests and making determinations on requests by owners of restricted units for hardship waivers.

(6) 

Enforcement:

(a) 

Securing annually lists of all affordable housing units for which tax bills are mailed to absentee owners and notifying all such owners that they must either move back to their unit or sell it;

(b) 

Securing from all developers and sponsors of restricted units, at the earliest point of contact in the processing of the project or development, written acknowledgment of the requirement that no restricted unit can be offered, or in any other way committed, to any person other than a household duly certified to the unit by the administrative agent;

(c) 

The posting annually in all rental properties, including two-family homes, of a notice as to the maximum permitted rent, together with the telephone number of the administrative agent where complaints of excess rent can be made;

(d) 

Sending annual mailings to all owners of affordable dwelling units, reminding them of the notices and requirements outlined in N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.18(d)4;

(e) 

Establishing a program for diverting unlawful rent payments to the municipality's Affordable Housing Trust Fund or other appropriate municipal fund approved by the DCA;

(f) 

Creating and publishing a written operating manual, as approved by the state or other applicable authority, setting forth procedures for administering such affordability controls; and

(g) 

Providing reports to the state or other applicable authority as required.

(7) 

Additional responsibilities:

(a) 

The administrative agent shall have authority to take all actions necessary and appropriate to carry out its responsibilities hereunder;

(b) 

The administrative agent shall prepare monitoring reports for submission to the Municipal Housing Liaison in time to meet any monitoring requirements and deadlines imposed by COAH, its successor entity, or the Court; and

(c) 

The administrative agent shall attend continuing education sessions on affordability controls, compliance monitoring, and affirmative marketing at least annually and more often as needed.