Bill Text: NJ A3305 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Concerns municipal rent control ordinances.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-09-27 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Housing and Local Government Committee [A3305 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-A3305-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman MICHAEL PATRICK CARROLL
District 25 (Morris and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Concerns municipal rent control ordinances.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning certain municipal ordinances and supplementing chapter 48 of Title 40 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. After the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (now before the Legislature as this bill), a residential rental premises which is vacant or thereafter becomes vacant, shall not be subject to any municipal rent control, stabilization or leveling ordinance, or any other municipal rent regulation in effect or adopted hereafter, nor shall the landlord of such a premises have any obligation to register with or report to a local governmental entity concerning such residential rental premises, from the date that the premises becomes vacant. For the purposes of this section, a residential rental premises shall be deemed "vacant" when all persons named in the lease, regardless of whether the lease is oral or written, have ceased to employ the rental premises as their principal domicile.
This section shall not apply:
a. to any premises or dwelling unit which has become vacant as a result of the failure of the owner thereof to comply with applicable housing, construction or zoning codes; or
b. in the event the owner of the rental premises is found guilty, in a court of competent jurisdiction, of engaging in any unlawful behavior designed to coerce a tenant of the rental premises to vacate the premises.
2. In the event an action is commenced in court by any person or entity challenging the right of a landlord to exempt rental premises from rent control regulation in accordance with P.L. , c. (C. ) (now before the Legislature as this bill), and that person or entity does not prevail in the action, then the landlord shall be awarded full and reasonable counsel fees and costs against such person or entity, in addition to such other relief as the court may deem appropriate.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires that after the bill's effective date, a residential rental premises which is vacant will not be subject to a municipal rent control, stabilization or leveling ordinance, or other municipal rent regulation. In addition, the landlord will not be required to register with or report to a local governmental entity concerning that rental premises from the date the premises become vacant.
The bill does not apply to premises that have become vacant as the result of the failure of the owner to comply with applicable housing, construction or zoning codes. It also doesn't apply if the owner is found guilty of engaging in unlawful behavior designed to coerce a tenant to vacate the rental premises.
The bill grants reasonable counsel fees and costs to a landlord who prevails in an action commenced against the landlord challenging the right of the landlord to exempt rental premises from rent control.
