Bill > A5695

Introduced Session

This bill creates a tenant right to counsel in eviction proceedings for certain individuals. The Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) will oversee the tenant right to counsel program and appoint a coordinator to administer the program. The bill appropriates $20 million to DCA for the program. The program is also permitted to receive funds from the federal government, corporations, or associations or individuals. Any income-eligible tenant, lessee or occupant, for residential purposes, of any land or building, any apartment in any building, any dwelling unit, or any trailer or mobile manufacturer home will be covered by the program. An income-eligible tenant is an individual or household of a rental dwelling unit whose household income is 200 percent or less of the current federal poverty level, who is facing eviction or some action that adversely affects a tenant's rights, duties, welfare or status and could result in eviction. An income eligible tenant is also an individual who receives certain public assistance. The DCA, AOC, and the appointed coordinator are required to ensure that the program provides access to legal services for income-eligible tenants in covered proceedings in the Special Civil Part of the New Jersey Superior Court. A covered proceeding is defined as any judicial or administrative proceeding to evict or terminate the tenancy or housing subsidy of an income-eligible tenant, any proceeding deemed by a designated organization as the functional equivalent of such a proceeding, or any first appeal of such a proceeding, including any judicial or administrative proceeding to remedy any other relevant statutory violations. The coordinator is required to work in conjunction with designated organizations to identify geographic areas within which an organization will provide legal services to eligible tenants. A designated organization is required to ensure that a covered individual receives access to legal representation by an attorney in a covered proceeding as soon as practicable after a landlord provides notice to terminate a tenancy or the initiation of an eviction proceeding. A designated organization is a not-for-profit or a for-profit organization that has the capacity to provide legal services to New Jerseys tenants of low income facing eviction in the Special Civil Part of the New Jersey Superior Court. Under the bill, the DCA and the AOC are required to prepare a one-page plain-language notice to inform tenants of the rights under the right to counsel program. Further, the DCA and AOC are required to prepare an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature evaluating the effectiveness of the tenant right to counsel program.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Herbert Conaway (D), 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Housing Committee (on 11/20/2023)

Official Document