Bill > A3498

Introduced Session

This bill authorizes residential tenant action in cases of alleged unconscionable rent increases. The bill provides that a residential tenant who receives a notice of rent increase from a landlord and believes the increase in rent to be unlawfully unconscionable, may, within 10 days of receipt of the notice of rent increase, request the landlord to provide in writing the rationale for the amount of the rent increase and request a new notice of rent increase in a lesser amount. Within 10 days of a residential tenant's request, the landlord would be required to provide rationale for the amount of the rent increase and would be permitted to begin a negotiation with the tenant by offering a new notice of rent increase in a lesser amount. The landlord is required to include in their written rationale provided to the tenant the following information:§ the change in the Consumer Price Index since the last increase in rent, the start of the present least term, or within the past two years, whichever is most recent;§ the landlord's expenses, containing specific financial data, which contributed to the rent increase;§ the landlord's profitability, containing specific financial data, and the landlord's anticipated profitability, containing specific financial projections; § a description and comparison of how the existing and proposed rent compares to rents charged at similar rental properties in the geographic area;§ the length of time since the last rent increase;§ a description of the condition of the property, including but not limited to, whether there were maintenance requests or claims related to habitability, and whether there were any, or currently are, code violations for the tenant's unit or common areas; and § a description of why the landlord believes that the proposed rent increase is not unconscionable. If a residential tenant and landlord are unable to negotiate a rent amount within 30 days from the date that a new lease term begins, then the residential tenant would be authorized to bring an action against the landlord in a court of competent jurisdiction for raising rent by an unconscionable amount. To determine whether a rent increase is unconscionable, the court would be required to consider: the amount of the rent increase proposed in the most recent notice of rent increase; the landlord's expenses and profitability; the financial circumstances of the residential tenant; how the existing and proposed rent compare to rents charged at similar rental properties in the geographic area; the relative bargaining position of the parties; whether the rent increase would shock the conscience of a reasonable person; the length of time since the last rent increase by the current owner against the residential tenant, the length of tenancy, and the length of property ownership; and the condition of the property. If the court finds that the landlord offered an increase in rent in an unconscionable amount, that the landlord did not include in the notice of rent increase the required statement specified by the bill, or provide the rationale required by the bill, the court would require the landlord to offer the residential tenant a 12-month lease for the property occupied by the residential tenant in an amount no greater than the amount of rent charged under the previous lease agreed upon by both parties, plus inflation, and would require the tenant to pay any arrears, based upon relevant factors considered by the court during the case. If the court finds that the landlord's most recent notice of increase offered an increase in rent in a conscionable amount, the court would require the tenant to pay the landlord any arrears accrued by the tenant while the tenant's action was pending in court, including the amounts disputed. A landlord would be prohibited from bringing certain eviction actions against a residential tenant pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1974, c.49 (C.2A:18-61.1) during the period of time in which the residential tenant's action is pending in court, unless the eviction action is unrelated to the disputed rent increase. The bill provides that its provisions would not be applicable to rent increases that are subject to and compliant with a local rent control ordinance. The bill also provides that any court records concerning an action brought by a residential tenant against a landlord are required to remain confidential and be excluded from public access. The bill also requires the Administrative Office of the Courts to: 1) develop and implement a public awareness campaign to inform residential tenants and landlords of the policies and processes established by the bill, and 2) to conduct a required training for judges who will hear cases of alleged unconscionable rent increase brought by a tenant against a landlord and court staff. The bill appropriates $1 million to the Administrative Office of the Courts for each of these purposes. The bill would take effect on the first day of the sixth month following enactment except that the Administrative Office of the Courts may take anticipatory administrative action necessary to effectuate the provisions of the bill.

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Yvonne Lopez (D)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Housing Committee (on 01/13/2026)

Official Document