Bill Text: NJ A876 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Consolidates certain affordable housing and assistance applications.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Housing Committee [A876 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A876-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Assemblyman BENJIE E. WIMBERLY
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen Atkins and Sampson
SYNOPSIS
Consolidates certain affordable housing and assistance applications.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning the consolidation of affordable housing pre-applications and subsidies and supplementing P.L.1983, c.530 (C.55:14K-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency shall establish, and make available on the Internet website of the New Jersey Housing Resource Center or its successor, a singular online application for individuals to pre-apply to multiple affordable and senior housing units and housing developments at one time. The application shall serve only as a pre-application to determine initial eligibility and standing on waitlists for the available housing and shall not serve as a final determination of eligibility. The application shall provide an individual the ability to select specific municipalities, counties, and general regions of the State for housing they wish to pre-apply. The application shall be applicable to all housing listed on the center's website, which shall include, but is not limited to: rental housing, for-sale housing, temporary housing, and priority housing.
b. The agency, in collaboration with the Division of Housing and Community Resources in the Department of Community Affairs, shall consolidate all applications for housing and housing related subsidies provided under any State or federal subsidy program into one application which shall be incorporated into the singular online application established pursuant to subsection a. of this section. The application consolidating housing and housing related subsidy applications shall have the capability to serve as a final determination of eligibility. The consolidated application shall include, but shall not be limited to:
(1) the Section 8: Housing Choice Voucher Program;
(2) the State Rental Assistance Program;
(3) Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS;
(4) Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing;
(5) the Homeless Prevention Program;
(6) the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program;
(7) the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program;
(8) the Universal Service Fund;
(9) the Weatherization Assistance Program; and
(10) the Lead-Safe Home Remediation Program.
c. The agency shall, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), adopt rules or regulations as are necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act.
2. This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
The bill directs the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency to establish, and make available on the Internet website of the New Jersey Housing Resource Center or its successor, a singular online application for individuals to pre-apply to multiple affordable and senior housing units and housing developments at one time. The bill also consolidates applications for housing and housing related subsidies into one application and incorporates this application into the singular online application to pre-apply for affordable housing. Currently, there is no centralized application with this capability. Instead, individuals must keep track of their standing on multiple pre-application waitlists and fill out substantially similar applications for each subsidy they seek.
Under the bill, the singular online application would serve only as a pre-application to determine initial eligibility and standing on waitlists for the available housing and would not serve as a final determination of eligibility. The application would provide an individual the ability to select specific municipalities, counties, and general regions of the State for housing they wish to pre-apply. The application would be applicable to all housing listed on the center's website, which would include, but would not be limited to: rental housing, for-sale housing, temporary housing, and priority housing.
The bill also requires the consolidation of all applications for housing and housing related subsidies provided under any State or federal subsidy program into one application, which would be incorporated into the singular online application. The application consolidating housing and housing related subsidy applications would have the capability to serve as a final determination of eligibility. The consolidated application would include, but would not be limited to:
(1) the Section 8: Housing Choice Voucher Program;
(2) the State Rental Assistance Program;
(3) Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS;
(4) Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing;
(5) the Homeless Prevention Program;
(6) the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program;
(7) the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program;
(8) the Universal Service Fund;
(9) the Weatherization Assistance Program; and
(10) the Lead-Safe Home Remediation Program.
