Bill Text: NJ S2421 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires tenant notification and documentation on landlord registration form whenever rental premises is adjudicated to have caused constructive eviction because of mold presence; requires Department of Community Affairs to maintain registry.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-11-22 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee [S2421 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-S2421-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator SHIRLEY K. TURNER
District 15 (Mercer)
SYNOPSIS
Requires tenant notification and documentation on landlord registration form whenever rental premises is adjudicated to have caused constructive eviction because of mold presence; requires Department of Community Affairs to maintain registry.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning constructive eviction and amending N.J.S.2A:18-59, P.L.1974, c.50, and P.L.1981, c.442, and supplementing chapter 8 of Title 46 and chapter 27D of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. N.J.S.2A:18-59 is amended to read as follows:
2A:18-59 a. Proceedings had by virtue of this article shall not be appealable except on the ground of lack of jurisdiction. The landlord, however, shall remain liable in a civil action for unlawful proceedings under this article.
b. Whenever the court determines that a tenant has been constructively evicted by a landlord who has maintained the rental premises in a uninhabitable condition, including the failure to address the presence of mold, a copy of the notice of the judgment to that effect shall be provided to the Commissioner of Community Affairs.
(cf: N.J.S.2A:18-59)
2. Section 2 of P.L.1974, c.50 (C.46:8-28) is amended to read as follows:
2. Every landlord shall, within 30 days following the effective date of this act, or at the time of the creation of the first tenancy in any newly constructed or reconstructed building, file with the clerk of the municipality, or with such other municipal official as is designated by the clerk, in which the residential property is situated, in the case of a one-dwelling unit rental or a two-dwelling unit non-owner occupied premises, or with the Bureau of Housing Inspection in the Department of Community Affairs in the case of a multiple dwelling as defined in section 3 of the "Hotel and Multiple Dwelling Law" (C.55:13A-3), a certificate of registration on forms prescribed by the Commissioner of Community Affairs, which shall contain the following information:
a. The name and address of the record owner or owners of the premises and the record owner or owners of the rental business if not the same persons. In the case of a partnership the names of all general partners shall be provided;
b. If the record owner is a corporation, the name and address of the registered agent and corporate officers of said corporation;
c. If the address of any record owner is not located in the county in which the premises are located, the name and address of a person who resides in the county in which the premises are located and is authorized to accept notices from a tenant and to issue receipts therefor and to accept service of process on behalf of the record owner;
d. The name and address of the managing agent of the premises, if any;
e. The name and address, including the dwelling unit, apartment or room number of the superintendent, janitor, custodian or other individual employed by the record owner or managing agent to provide regular maintenance service, if any;
f. The name, address and telephone number of an individual representative of the record owner or managing agent who may be reached or contacted at any time in the event of an emergency affecting the premises or any unit of dwelling space therein, including such emergencies as the failure of any essential service or system, and who has the authority to make emergency decisions concerning the building and any repair thereto or expenditure in connection therewith and shall, at all times, have access to a current list of building tenants that shall be made available to emergency personnel as required in the event of an emergency;
g. The name and address of every holder of a recorded mortgage on the premises;
h. If fuel oil is used to heat the building and the landlord furnishes the heat in the building, the name and address of the fuel oil dealer servicing the building and the grade of fuel oil used ;
i. A statement indicating whether the rental premises has been held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be uninhabitable on any basis, or has experienced the loss of a tenant through constructive eviction concerning items of habitability, including the presence of mold, and if so, detailed documentation of the repairs or abatement of the condition affecting habitability.
(cf: P.L.2003, c.56, s.2)
3. Section 4 of P.L.1981, c.442 (C.46:8-28.2) is amended to read as follows:
4. Every landlord required to file a certificate of registration as described in section 2 of P.L.1974, c. 50 (C. 46:8-28) shall file an amended certificate of registration within 20 days after any change in the information required to be included thereon, including such information required to be reported pursuant to subsection i. of section 2 of P.L.1974, c.50 (C.46:8-28). No fee shall be required for the filing of an amendment except where the ownership of the premises is changed.
(cf: P.L.1981, c.442, s.4)
4. (New section) Every landlord who is required to report information concerning a rental premises pursuant to subsection i. of section 2 of P.L.1974, c.50 (C.46:8-28), shall notify each of the landlord's other tenants if located in the same building. Each new tenant of a rental premises for which information is required to reported pursuant to subsection i. of section 2 of P.L.1974, c.50 (C.46:8-28) shall be notified of that information at the time of signing of the lease to the rental premises, and shall thereafter have a three-day period in which the tenant may rescind the agreement to lease. For the purposes of this section, "landlord" means any person who rents or leases, for a term of at least one month, residential dwelling units. The term "landlord" shall not mean a person who rents or leases dwelling units in an owner-occupied premises of not more than three dwelling units, or in hotels, motels, or other guest houses serving transient or seasonal guests.
5. (New section) The Department of Community Affairs shall maintain a registry of rental premises for which information has been reported pursuant to subsection i. of section 2 of P.L.1974, c.50 (C.46:8-28) or N.J.S.2A:18-59, and shall make such information available to the public upon request, or alternately may make such information available on its internet site.
6. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires notification to tenants whenever a rental premises has been found to have mold concerns by a court, to the extent that a tenant has been forced to move from the premises. The legal term for this situation is constructive eviction. Although landlords who are found to have constructively evicted a tenant must return all security deposit monies, there is no notification to other prospective tenants, or even to current tenants in the building, that a health problem may exist with the rental premises. Although standards for an acceptable level of mold in rental premises have not been promulgated at this point in time, research indicates that certain people may need to avoid any contact with mold. The purpose of the bill, therefore, is to provide important, relevant information to a prospective tenant or current tenant.
Most landlords are diligent in correcting unhealthy environmental conditions in their rental properties. When tenants are unable to persuade landlords to take action to correct these conditions, many will simply vacate those premises in favor of more habitable premises. When a landlord refuses to make repairs or correct unhealthy conditions in the rental property, and the tenant is found by a court to have been constructively evicted, the bill requires that fact to be reported to the Department of Community Affairs by the court. In addition, the landlord registration form, required by statute to be maintained either by the municipality or by the Department of Community Affairs, is required to be updated to reflect the condition of the rental property. The bill also requires current tenants in the same building, as well as prospective tenants of the same rental unit, to be notified of the fact of the constructive eviction. The Department of Community Affairs is charged by the bill with maintaining a registry of rental premises for which information has been reported either through the landlord registration files, or the court, and is required to make such information available to the public upon request, or alternately to make such information available on its internet site.
