46:8-28.5 Certificate of registration, fee; exceptions.

2. a. Except as otherwise provided in subsection b. of this section, every owner of a tenant-occupied single-family or two-family residential property, including, without limitation, a two-family property in which one unit is owner-occupied, shall file a certificate of registration on forms prescribed by the Commissioner of Community Affairs, in accordance with section 2 of P.L.1974, c.50 (C.46:8-28), with the Bureau of Housing Inspection in the Department of Community Affairs. Any such filing shall be accompanied by a filing fee not exceeding the filing for hotels and multiple dwellings established by section 12 of P.L.1967, c.76 (C.55:13A-12).

b. Subsection a. of this section shall not apply to any owner-occupied two-family residential property that:

(1) has been certified to be free of lead-based paint;

(2) was constructed during or after 1978;

(3) is a seasonal rental unit which is rented for less than six months' duration each year; or

(4) has been certified as having a lead-free interior by a certified inspector.

c. Any owner who fails to comply with an order of the commissioner to register any property subject to this section shall be liable for a penalty of $200 for each registration ordered by the commissioner. The commissioner may issue a certificate to the clerk of the Superior Court that an owner is indebted to the department for the payment of such penalty and thereupon the clerk shall enter upon the record of docketed judgments the name of the owner, and of the State, a designation of the statute under which the penalty is imposed, the amount of the penalty so certified, and the date of such certification. The making of the entry shall have the same force and effect as the entry of a docketed judgment in the office of such clerk.

L.2007, c.251, s.2.