Bill Text: NJ A4446 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires notification of pet presence in seasonal rental unit.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-1)
Status: (Engrossed) 2024-09-19 - Received in the Senate, Referred to Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee [A4446 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A4446-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman CRAIG J. COUGHLIN
District 19 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires notification of pet presence in seasonal rental unit.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning pets in seasonal rental units and supplementing Title 29 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this section:
"Occupancy" means the point at which a renter of a seasonal rental unit enters the seasonal rental unit, in accordance with the renter's contracted stay, and for twelve hours immediately following.
"Owner" means the owner of a seasonal rental unit, or an agent of the owner acting on the owner's behalf.
"Pet" means a domesticated animal normally maintained in a household.
"Seasonal rental unit" means a dwelling unit rented for a term of not more than 125 consecutive days for residential purposes by a person having a permanent residence elsewhere, but shall not include use or rental of living quarters by migrant, temporary, or seasonal workers in connection with any work or place where work is being performed.
b. The owner of a seasonal rental unit shall notify a prospective renter, prior to contracting for an accommodation, if a pet is regularly present, or is present within two weeks preceding the scheduled stay of the prospective renter. If the owner fails to notify the prospective renter in violation of this section, then the renter shall be entitled to sever the contract for the accommodation and receive a full reimbursement of any deposit or other payment made for the accommodation, if the renter notifies the owner subsequent to taking occupancy, promptly leaves the seasonal rental unit to terminate occupancy, and does not return during the duration of the contracted stay.
c. A licensee of the New Jersey Real Estate Commission, acting as an agent of the owner, shall not be liable for information that is required to be disclosed by an owner pursuant to subsection b. of this section and was not provided to the licensee.
2. In accordance with the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), the Commissioner of Community Affairs shall adopt the rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act on or before January 1, 2025.
3. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2025.
STATEMENT
This bill is intended to protect renters of seasonal rental units, such those rented through platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo and through more traditional vacation rental arrangements, who may have pet allergies, from unexpected exposures to spaces recently occupied by pets.
This bill requires the owner of a seasonal rental unit to notify a prospective renter, prior to contracting for an accommodation, if a pet is regularly present, or will be present within two weeks preceding the scheduled stay of the prospective renter. The bill entitles a renter of a seasonal rental unit to sever the contract for the accommodation, and receive a full reimbursement of any payment made, if the owner fails to notify the renter, in violation of the bill. In order to benefit from these protections, the bill requires the renter to notify the owner within 12 hours of first entering the accommodation of the renter's decision to vacate early due to a purported violation.
The bill provides that a licensee of the New Jersey Real Estate Commission, acting as an agent of the owner, is not to be liable for information that is required to be disclosed by an owner, but was not provided to the licensee.
This bill directs the Commissioner of Community Affairs to adopt rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the purposes of the bill on or before January 1, 2025. The bill would take effect on January 1, 2025.
