Sanitation Summons Not Garbage Related (Jersey City: apartment, condo, home)

[Pwheatley]

I live in Jersey City, New Jersey, in a small 7-unit condo of which I am the president of the homeowner's association. The condo owners self-manage as our maintenance is not very high and we are all low to middle, middle class workers. I just received 3 summons from the Division of Sanitation under the Department of Public Works, but not for garbage related infractions, but rather for building maintenance issues.

The stairs leading up to our first floor are concrete and are damaged, so one summons was to repair the stairs and the handrail. We already had that planned along with fixing the sidewalk, but we have been waiting for the contractor to get the permits and to begin work for over a month, so it's totally out of our control.

Second summons: There is a retaining wall leaning into our next door neighbor's driveway, due to damage by the roots of a small tree. This damage was inflicted more than 15 years ago and we would need permission from our neighbor as well to fix this as any contractor who did the work would have to work on the neighbor's property. I wanted to do this job along with the sidewalk/stairway job, but the cost for the sidewalk/stairway job is already at the limit of the funds we have available.

Third summons: We have bushes growing on one side of our building. We are planning on cutting them, however the frequent heavy rains on the weekends have prevented us from doing this earlier as we all work for a living so are not home on the weekdays to do it, and again the funds are not there to hire someone to do it for us.

Questions:
1. Since when is Sanitation involved in issuing summons for building infrastructure issues and weed control of all things?
2. Why would summons' for court be given before citations? Don't we deserve a chance to correct the issues?
3. Pictures were taken of the damaged stairs from on our property and one picture was taken inside our foyer. These pictures were taken without the knowledge of any of the building apartment owners. I know this is a government agency but even the police need to have permission to enter a building without probably cause. Would this qualify as trespassing?

Thank you to anyone who can provide any guidance or assistance in how we should approach this matter.

Paul

[captne76]

1) That all depends on the town and its customs.

2) Summons for court may be same as citations.

3) I am not any expert on law, etc.

I would just prepare your side of the story as best as you can then bring all that in, Im hoping they might drop most of these, but again Im not in theat business.

[Beaconowner]

Your excuses seem to be just that, excuses.


YOU hired the contractor. If they haven't gotten the permits in a month, it's your problem, not the court's or the government agency. They don't care about your excuses. What they do care about is the safety of people using the stairs.


There has been plenty of time on the weekends to cut your bushes. I did an oil change and transmission oil change two weekends ago, and I didn't have any problem with rain, and I'm in the same town as you.


You can not plead "poverty" as an excuse not to get the work done. If that worked, we'd all do it.


You have a choice, you and your other owners are going to have to pay fines you say you can't afford, and get then these issues fixed, or you could have just gotten these things fixed in a timely manner, and not had this problem. Learn the lesson this opportunity presents.


You and your fellow owners should have a contingency fund. Since you don't, have a special assessment on all owners to create one.


You should have, in your maintenance, factored in replacement of elements of the physical space you own. What happens when the roof needs replacement?


Don't expect any sympathy when you go to court, you won't get any.