Opinion ID: 2347469
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: State preemption of eviction provisions in the ordinance

Text: Plaintiffs allege that the provisions of the New Milford ordinance which limit the grounds for eviction are invalid because the State has preempted the municipality's power to act in this area. Plaintiffs further contend that these provisions transgress constitutional proscriptions because they fail to provide a landlord the opportunity to withdraw a rental unit from the rental housing market and convert it into a cooperative or condominium. It is well established that when a state statute has preempted a field by supplying a complete system of law on a subject, an ordinance dealing with the same subject is void. Ringlieb v. Parsippany-Troy Hills Tp., 59 N.J. 348 (1971) (State regulation of solid waste disposal); Summer v. Teaneck, 53 N.J. 548 (1969) (ordinance designed to prevent blockbusting); Mogolefsky v. Schoem, 50 N.J. 588 (1967) (licensing of real estate brokers); Sutherland, Statutory Construction (4 ed. 1973), § 30.05 at 349. In Summer v. Teaneck, supra , Chief Justice Weintraub outlined the contours of the doctrine of preemption: [25] A municipality may not contradict a policy the Legislature establishes. Auto-Rite Supply Co. v. Mayor and Township Committeemen of Woodbridge, 25 N.J. 188 (1957). Hence an ordinance will fall if it permits what a statute expressly forbids or forbids what a statute expressly authorizes. Even absent such evident conflict, a municipality may be unable to exercise a power it would otherwise have if the Legislature has preempted the field. This follows from the basic principle that local government may not act contrary to State law. But an intent to occupy the field must appear clearly. Kennedy v. City of Newark, 29 N.J. 178, 187 (1959). It is not enough that the Legislature has legislated upon the subject, for the question is whether the Legislature intended its action to preclude the exercise of the delegated police power. Masters-Jersey, Inc. v. Mayor and General Council of Borough of Paramus, 32 N.J. 296 (1960). Hence the fact that the State has licensed a calling may not be enough to bar local licensure to protect an additional value of local concern. Belleville Chamber of Commerce v. Town of Belleville, 51 N.J. 153, 157 (1968). The ultimate question is whether, upon a survey of all the interests involved in the subject, it can be said with confidence that the Legislature intended to immobilize the municipalities from dealing with local aspects otherwise within their power to act. [53 N.J. at 554-55] In the case at bar, defendant argues that the provision relating to grounds for eviction does not contradict or undermine State policy but rather, essentially duplicates the State statute on the subject. As noted above, however, courts may still find that there has been preemption by the state even where there is no apparent conflict between state and local enactments. Summer v. Teaneck, supra, 53 N.J. at 554. State v. Ulesky, 54 N.J. 26 (1969) (municipal registration of criminals); Chester Tp. v. Panicucci, 116 N.J. Super. 229, 234-35 (App. Div. 1971), aff'd 62 N.J. 94 (1973) (municipal regulation of firearms); Coast Cigarettes Sales v. Mayor, Coun., Long Branch, 121 N.J. Super. 439, 446 (Law Div. 1972) (licensing of cigarette vending machines); Dimor, Inc. v. Passaic, 122 N.J. Super. 296 (Law Div. 1973) (State obscenity laws); Wein v. Irvington, 126 N.J. Super. 410 (App. Div. 1975), certif. den. 65 N.J. 287 (1974) (State obscenity laws). The test applied where no apparent conflict exists is one of determining the Legislature's intent. Dimor, Inc. v. Passaic, supra, 122 N.J. Super. at 302. Two lower courts have found provisions in municipal rent control ordinances which enumerate grounds for eviction to be invalid because by the District Court Act ( N.J.S.A. 2A:18-53 et seq. ) and the Landlord and Tenant Act ( N.J.S.A. 2A:42-1 et seq. ) the subject was preempted by the State. Barry Gardens v. Passaic, 130 N.J. Super. 369, 380 (Law Div. 1974); Leone Management Corp. v. Bd. of Comm'rs, West N.Y., 130 N.J. Super. 569, 580 (Law Div. 1974). In another case, however, the trial court noted that because the State eviction laws were purely jurisdictional, they may not have preempted the field. Inganamort v. Fort Lee, supra, 120 N.J. Super. at 298-300. With the enactment of N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1 in 1974, which sets forth specific enumerated grounds of eviction, there can no longer be any doubt that the Legislature intended to preempt this area of the law. Consequently, we hold that provisions in municipal ordinances which set forth grounds for eviction or dispossession are invalid as having been preempted by state enactments. [26] A similar result was reached in Birkenfeld v. City of Berkeley, 122 Cal. Rptr. 891, 902 (Cal. App. 1975). The invalidity of the provisions does not affect the enforceability of the remainder of the ordinance since they are clearly severable. Barry Gardens v. Passaic, supra, 130 N.J. Super. at 380-81; Inganamort v. Fort Lee, supra, 120 N.J. Super. at 300.