SOMERVILLE -- The tenants of a Somerville rooming house had been living with the smell of a dead body for weeks despite at least one resident's alleged complaints to the landlord and state officials, according to a report by MyCentralJersey.com.

Monday, police found the body of a 52-year-old tenant who allegedly died in the rooming house located at 63 West End Avenue as long as four weeks ago, the news website reported.



Weeks earlier, the news website reported the owner of the rooming house, Rajinder Jassil, was fined $1,000 by the state Department of Community Affairs after he allegedly failed to improve conditions in the home, which has also suffered from a bed bug infestation for the past five years.

Jassil, a Branchburg resident, was fined after failing a second inspection at his Somerville property, DCA communications manager Emike Omogbai previously told NJ Advance Media. The department also imposed an admission curtailment order on the property, prohibiting Jassil from accepting new tenants "until further notice."

In a rooming home, tenants occupy single-room living spaces but share kitchens, bathrooms and living areas. The state first inspected the two-story West End property on Dec. 5, 2014, according to Omogbai. Inspectors found bed bug activity, ceiling leaks, damaged ceiling tiles, dirty walls, trash pile-ups and dirty dishes in rooms, Omogbai said.

After the residence was re-evaluated on Feb. 20, inspectors found that Jassil treated the property for bed bugs, but failed to provide certification proving the house was inspected after 60 days and no evidence of activity was found, Omogbai said.

The inspection also found that Jassil "failed to conduct routine housekeeping of harborage areas i.e. vacuuming, washing baseboards/walls etc.," Omogbai said.

He did, however, check new residents for possible bed bug infestation and obtain a contract with a licensed pesticide applicator to maintain routine scheduled treatments, according to Omogbai.

Jassil told NJ Advance Media at the time he was in the process of getting the place up to standards by the time state inspectors returned in late March.

"We are working on it," he said. "We are working 24 hours to fix whatever we have to do. I hope everything will be okay."

Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.