Bill > A5521

Introduced Session

This bill would establish confidentiality standards for court records concerning the eviction of a tenant or the recovery of unpaid rent, beginning at the start of the sixth year following the initiation of the action. The bill defines a "landlord-tenant court record" to include any record containing information regarding a landlord-tenant action, and any record of the filing of that action. The bill would require a landlord-tenant court record to be made confidential and unavailable to the public beginning on the first day of the sixth year following the filing of the landlord-tenant action associated with the record. Specifically, the bill prohibits a court from permitting the continued publication of a landlord-tenant court record following this date unless the court: (1) determines that the publication is necessary to serve the public interest; and (2) to the greatest extent feasible, removes all information from the record that could be used to identify the tenant. Additionally, the bill would require any New Jersey public entity that maintains a record or a file of landlord-tenant court records to take appropriate actions to ensure that these records are kept confidential and unavailable to the public beginning on the first day of the sixth year following the date of the filing of the eviction action associated with the record. The bill provides that it would not prohibit the courts or other New Jersey public entities from retaining or distributing demographic information from nonpayment court records for the purpose of understanding eviction trends, or for other public purposes, so long as personally-identifiable information on tenants involved in landlord-tenant actions remains confidential in accordance with the bill. When evaluating a prospective tenant, the bill prohibits a landlord from considering a landlord-tenant action beginning on the first day of the sixth year following the date when the action associated with the record was filed. The bill also expressly prohibits a person from providing court filing information or information contained in a nonpayment court record to a landlord or other entity involved in the rental of a dwelling unit beginning on the first day of the sixth year following the date when the action associated with the record was filed. Any person who violates either of these prohibitions would, in addition to any other penalty provided by law, be liable for a penalty of not less than $1,000 for the first offense, and not less than $5,000 for the second and each subsequent offense, plus reasonable attorney fees. In addition to any other remedies provided by law, the bill authorizes a residential tenant or applicant for rental housing to bring an action in Superior Court for a violation of either of these prohibitions. This bill would take effect immediately and would apply retroactively to landlord-tenant actions initiated subsequent to March 9, 2020, the date when the public health emergency began, as declared by the Governor in Executive Order No. 103 of 2020.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Angela Mcknight (D)*,  Raj Mukherji (D)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Housing Committee (on 03/22/2021)