Sponsored by:
Senator BRIAN P. STACK
District 33 (Hudson)
Senator NILSA CRUZ-PEREZ
District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)
SYNOPSIS
Requires inclusion of information about discriminatory housing practices in the Truth in Renting Guide.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee on December 4, 2017, with amendments.
An Act concerning discriminatory housing practices and amending P.L.1975, c.310.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 3 of P.L.1975, c.310 (C.46:8-45) is amended to read as follows:
3. a. (1) The department shall, as soon as practicable and annually thereafter, after public hearing, prepare and make available at no cost to the public, to the extent that funding has been made available to the department for free distribution, a statement, in a form and size suitable for posting and distributing pursuant to the provisions of this act, of the primary clearly established legal rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords of rental dwelling units.
(2) This statement shall be printed in both the English and Spanish languages and shall be posted on the department's Internet website, in an easily printable format, and updated annually. The statement shall serve as an informational document, and nothing therein shall be construed as binding on or affecting a judicial determination under section 6 of P.L.1975, c.310 (C.46:8-48) of what constitutes a lease provision which violates clearly established legal rights of tenants or responsibilities of landlords.
(3) The statement shall contain information about discriminatory housing practices prohibited under the "Law Against Discrimination," P.L.1945, c.169 (C.10:5-1 et seq.) in substantially the following form:
The New
Jersey Law Against Discrimination requires equal treatment in the sale or rental
of housing regardless of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, sex,
marital status, civil union status, domestic partnership status, familial
status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression,
mental and physical disability, nationality, or source of lawful income. Because
a state or federally issued housing voucher qualifies as a source of lawful
income, it is unlawful for a landlord to refuse to rent to persons with Section
8 housing vouchers 1who
otherwise meet the landlord’s rental criteria1 .
It is also an unlawful practice to advertise that a landlord will not rent to
persons with Section 8 housing vouchers.
b. Where practical considerations make it necessary for the department to limit the extent of the statement, items to be included shall be selected on the basis of the importance of their inclusion in protecting the rights of the public.
(cf: P.L.2007, c.177, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.