STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman BENJIE E. WIMBERLY
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywomen Speight, Quijano and Assemblyman Freiman
SYNOPSIS
Requires landlords to provide tenants with certain notice concerning conditions that may cause damage or hazards on rental property.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning tenant notifications and supplementing Title 46 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. When a landlord receives written notice from an entity responsible for work on an adjoining property, including but not limited to a government entity, utility company or developer, clearly stating that work is expected to be conducted on the adjoining property, including but not limited to, construction, rehabilitation, or demolition that may cause damage or hazardous conditions to the landlord’s property, the landlord shall provide a copy of the notice to tenants of the landlord’s property within five business days of the landlord’s receipt of the written notice. If the landlord, or an agent of the landlord, intends to conduct work that may cause damage or hazardous conditions on a property adjoining a property occupied by a tenant of the landlord, then the landlord shall provide notice to the tenant prior to the commencement of the work. The notices required pursuant to this section may be provided to each affected tenant by mail, by posting in at least one conspicuous area where the information is most likely to be viewed by tenants, or by electronic delivery.
b. A landlord who fails to provide an affected tenant with the information required pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall be liable to a penalty of not more than $200 for each offense, recoverable by a summary proceeding under 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 or the municipal court of the municipality in which the landlord’s property is located shall have jurisdiction to enforce said penalty.
c. For the purposes of this section:
“Landlord” means any person who rents or leases, for a term of at least one month, commercial space or residential dwelling units other than dwelling units in a premises containing not more than two such units and seasonal rental units, or in an owner-occupied premises of not more than three dwelling units and seasonal rental units, or in hotels, motels, or other guest houses serving transient or seasonal guests.
“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.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the third month next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill provides that when a landlord receives written notice from an entity responsible for work on an adjoining property clearly stating that work will be conducted on the adjoining property, including but not limited to, construction, rehabilitation, or demolition, that may cause damage or hazardous conditions to the landlord’s property, the landlord would be required to provide a copy of the notice to tenants of the landlord’s property.
Under the bill, the landlord is required to provide tenants with notice within five business days of the landlord’s receipt of the written notice. If the landlord, either directly or through an agent, intends to conduct hazardous work on a property adjoining a property occupied by the landlord’s tenant, then the bill would require the landlord to provide notice to the tenant prior to the work’s commencement. The bill specifies that the notice may be provided to each affected tenant by mail, by posting in at least one conspicuous area where the information is most likely to be viewed by tenants, or by electronic delivery.
A landlord who fails to provide an affected tenant with the notice would be liable to a penalty of not more than $200 for each offense, recoverable by a summary proceeding under "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 or the municipal court of the municipality in which the landlord’s property is located would have jurisdiction to enforce this penalty.
Under the bill, a "landlord" is defined as any person who rents or leases, for a term of at least one month, commercial space or residential dwelling units other than dwelling units in a premises containing not more than two such units and seasonal rental units, or in an owner-occupied premises of not more than three dwelling units and seasonal rental units, or in hotels, motels, or other guest houses serving transient or seasonal guests.