Bill Text: NJ A4899 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Limits amount of residential rental property application fee; establishes penalty.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-10-24 - Reported out of Assembly Comm. with Amendments, 2nd Reading [A4899 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A4899-Amended.html
ASSEMBLY, No. 4899
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED OCTOBER 17, 2024
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman LINDA S. CARTER
District 22 (Somerset and Union)
Assemblywoman YVONNE LOPEZ
District 19 (Middlesex)
Assemblyman BENJIE E. WIMBERLY
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Atkins, Assemblywomen Sumter, Speight, Park and Haider
SYNOPSIS
Limits amount of residential rental property application fee; establishes penalty.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Assembly Housing Committee on October 24, 2024, with amendments.
An Act limiting the amount of residential rental 1property1 application fees and supplementing chapter 8 of Title 46 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. 1[An] a. A1 landlord, or agent thereof, shall not require an application 1or other similar1 fee to 1apply to1 lease or sublease 1[the] a1 residential 1rental1 property for dwelling purposes 1[of more than a sum equal to the actual cost of a credit check or other related services paid for by the landlord or agent to a third party, unless the sum exceeds $30. If the expense to the landlord or agent for services associated with the application exceeds $30, however, then the landlord or agent shall not require more than $30 as an application fee] , which exceeds $50.
b. A landlord, or agent thereof, who violates subsection a. of this section shall be liable for a penalty of $1,500 for each offense, which shall be collected and enforced by summary proceedings pursuant to the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.). The Superior Court, Law Division, Special Civil Part in the county in which the residential rental property is located shall have jurisdiction over the proceedings. Process shall be in the nature of a summons or warrant, and shall issue upon the complaint of the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety or the Attorney General. Following the proceedings, $250 from the collected penalty shall be remitted to the applicant or prospective tenant.
c. The requirements of subsection a. of this section shall not apply to a dwelling unit located in a one-family or two-family dwelling that is offered for rent1.
1[2. A landlord who violates section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall:
a. be liable for a penalty of $250, which shall be collected and enforced by summary proceedings pursuant to the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.). The Superior Court, Law Division, Special Civil Part in the county in which the residential rental property is located shall have jurisdiction over the proceedings. Process shall be in the nature of a summons or warrant, and shall issue upon the complaint of the Commissioner of Community Affairs or the Attorney General; and
b. at the discretion of the applicant for the residential rental property, be subject to a separate cause of action by the applicant in the Superior Court, Law Division, Special Civil Part in the county in which the rental premises are located. The applicant may recover $250 for an offense by the landlord, in addition to reasonable attorney's fees or expenses.]1
12. The Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety shall, in accordance with the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), adopt rules and regulations as necessary to implement P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), including rules setting forth a mechanism for applicants or prospective tenants to report violations of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), which the director shall make available on the Internet website of the Division of Consumer Affairs.1
3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month next following 1the date of1 enactment 1, except that the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety shall be permitted to take anticipatory action necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act1.
