Bill Text: NJ A5263 | 2026-2027 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Permits tenant to make rent payment into escrow account in event of persisting serious hazard in dwelling unit or to make repairs and deduct cost from future rent.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-06-15 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Housing Committee [A5263 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2026-A5263-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman SHANIQUE SPEIGHT
District 29 (Essex and Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Permits tenant to make rent payment into escrow account in event of persisting serious hazard in dwelling unit or to make repairs and deduct cost from future rent.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning rent payments and repairs in residential rental units and supplementing chapter 42 of Title 2A of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. For the purpose of this section:
"Serious hazard affecting habitability" or "serious hazard" means a deficiency in a vital facility, including, but not limited to, mold, unsafe staircases, missing or nonfunctional locks, broken toilets, lack of hot or cold water, lack of electricity, or broken heating system.
b. A residential tenant may remit rent payments into a separate escrow account if, after providing notification to the landlord and reasonable time for repairs to occur, a serious hazard affecting habitability persists within the tenant's dwelling unit or the dwelling unit property. Upon completion of repairs to address a serious hazard the tenant shall provide due payments to the landlord from the escrow account.
c. Payment of residential rent into an escrow account following the persistence of a serious hazard shall not be considered grounds for eviction as a default of rent payment or other grounds for eviction pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1974, c.49 (C.2A:18-61.1).
2. a. If a residential landlord fails to make repairs of facilities within a dwelling unit that are necessary to maintain habitability after being given written notification and a reasonable time to make a repair, including, but not limited to, repairs involving mold, unsafe staircases, or broken heating system, a residential tenant may make arrangements for repair and further deduct the cost of repair in an amount up to four months of rent payments under the terms of the residential lease.
b. Deduction of rent from the cost of repairs made by a tenant shall not be considered grounds for eviction as a default of rent payment or other grounds for eviction pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1974, c.49 (C.2A:18-61.1).
3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the first month after enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill permits a tenant to pay rent into an escrow account or make arrangements for the repair and deduct up to four months rent when a serious hazard affecting habitability, as defined in the bill, persists within the dwelling unit. Serious hazards can include mold, unsafe staircases, broken heating systems, and other deficiencies in vital facilities.
The bill provides that a tenant may remit rent payments into an escrow account if, after notifying the landlord and providing reasonable time for the repairs to occur, a serious hazard affecting habitability persist within the dwelling unit or on the property of the dwelling unit. The bill provides that utilization of an escrow account to withhold rent payments from a landlord in the event of a serious hazard affecting habitability will not be grounds for eviction.
The bill additionally codifies and expands repair and deduct principles. Under the bill a tenant is authorized to deduct up to four months from future rent to make arrangements for repairs if a landlord does not repair a serious hazard affecting habitability. Prior to applying repair and deduct, the bill requires that a tenant provide written notification to the landlord detailing the serious hazard affecting habitability and allow for a reasonable time for the landlord to make the repair.
