Bill > A3998

Introduced Session

This bill enhances transparency concerning properties claiming an exemption from rent control by amending P.L.1987, c.153 (C.2A:42-84.1 et seq.) to establish certain documentation requirements for municipalities and property owners and requiring the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to maintain a database on the DCA's Internet website of properties exempt from rent control. Specifically, the bill amends existing law concerning the applicability of rent control ordinances by providing that the exemption from municipal rent control under the law applies only to provisions of municipal ordinances that directly limit the periodic or regular increases in base rentals of dwelling units. The exemption is to not extend to any other administrative, disclosure, registration, or tenant protection requirement of a municipal rent control or rent leveling ordinance. The bill further amends existing law concerning notice to prospective lessees requiring property owners to provide lessees with the original certificate of occupancy, initial mortgage loan documentation, the original claim of exemption filed with the municipality, and a statement calculating the specific date on which the exemption expires. Further, the bill requires a lease contain a provision notifying the tenant of the exemption and the specific date on which the exemption expires, which is to be prominently displayed in a 12-point, boldface font on the first page of the lease. The bill also provides that a municipal construction officer is to maintain each exemption claim and related documentation submitted pursuant to the bill for a minimum of 40 years and a property owner is to maintain the property owner's exemption claim and related documentation for the duration of the property ownership plus an additional 10 years. A property is to be deemed subject to rent control if at any time a municipality is unable to produce an original claim of exemption filed at least 30 day prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy. The bill directs the DCA, in cooperation with each municipality in this State that has enacted a rent control or rent leveling ordinance, to establish and maintain on the DCA's Internet website a searchable public registry of properties exempted from a rent control or rent leveling ordinance pursuant to P.L.1987, c.153 (C.2A:42-84.1 et seq.). The owner of a multiple dwelling exempted from a rent control or rent leveling ordinance is to provide to the DCA for inclusion on the registry certain information enumerated in the bill. An owner who fails to provide the documentation required by the bill within 180 days of the effective date of the bill, or within 90 days of acquiring a property claiming exemption, is to be deemed to have forfeited any claim of exemption. The property is to be subject to rent control until the time as the owner provides complete documentation and the DCA confirms the exemption. The bill authorizes a municipality to impose certain surcharges to cover the actual costs of municipal compliance with the bill, to mitigate potential State mandate implications. The bill provides that a property owner exempt from rent control pursuant to P.L.1987, c.153 (C.2A:42-84.1 et seq.) is to file an annual certification, in a form and manner determined by the DCA, affirming continued compliance with the requirements of P.L.1987, c.153 (C.2A:42-84.1 et seq.). The filing of a false certification is to constitute a violation of the New Jersey consumer fraud act and the property owner is also to be liable for treble damages, plus attorney fees, and a civil penalty of not more than $20,000 for each offense. The penalty is to be collected and enforced by summary proceedings under the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.). Nothing in the bill is to be construed to establish new substantive rights or obligations beyond those established by P.L.1987, c.153 (C.2A:42-84.1 et seq.). The bill is to take effect immediately and is to apply to properties claiming exemption from rent control pursuant to P.L.1987, c.153 (C.2A:42-84.1 et seq.) on the date of enactment, the owners of which shall have 180 days from the date of enactment to comply with the provisions of the bill.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Katie Brennan (D)*, 

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

Official Document