Bill Text: NJ S4177 | 2026-2027 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires certain record keeping related to municipal rent control compliance; appropriates $2 million.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-05-11 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee [S4177 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2026-S4177-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator BRIAN P. STACK
District 33 (Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Requires certain record keeping related to municipal rent control compliance; appropriates $2 million.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act requiring certain record keeping related to municipal rent control compliance, supplementing P.L.1987, c.153, and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. (1) On or before the first day of the sixth month next following effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ), every landlord owning a residential rental property located in a municipality that has adopted a rent control ordinance shall file with the clerk of the municipality, or with such other municipal official as is designated by the clerk, a rent control compliance form on the form published by the Department of Community Affairs pursuant to subsection c. of this section. The municipality may impose a fee for the submission of a rent control compliance form in an amount necessary to pay for the municipality's actual costs in administering P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
(2) Every landlord required to file a rent control compliance form pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection shall file an amended rent control compliance form within 20 days after any change in the information required to be included therein. No fee shall be required for the filing of an amendment except where the ownership of the premises is changed.
b. The municipal clerk, or such other municipal official as is designated by the clerk, shall index and file the rent control compliance form and make it available for public inspection upon request. On or before the first day of the 12th month next following the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the clerk shall: (1) make all rent control compliance forms available on the Internet website of the Department of Community Affairs; and (2) submit historical rent control compliance records to the Department of Community Affairs to be published on the department's Internet website through the Internet system established pursuant to paragraph (2) of subsection c. of this section. Paper and electronic records maintained pursuant to this section shall be available and searchable by the public. Access to paper and electronic records maintained pursuant to this section shall not be subject to restriction, fee, or application authorized pursuant to P.L.1963, c.73 (C.47:1A-1 et seq.), commonly known as the open public records act.
c. (1) The Department of Community Affairs shall, within 30 days of the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), publish on the department's Internet website a rent control compliance form. The form shall include: (a) unit address, including municipality; (b) unit number; (c) owner name; (d) registered agent, if the owner is a corporation; (e) rent registration, and date of submission; (f) claimed exemption, and date of claim; (g) certificate of occupancy, and date of issuance; (h) each filing, if any, pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1987, c.153 (C.2A:42-84.4), and date of each; (i) each rent control complaint, if any, and date of each; and (j) each enforcement action, if any, and date of each.
(2) On or before the first day of the sixth month next following the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the Department of Community Affairs shall establish and make available to the clerk of each municipality in the State an Internet system to maintain rent control compliance records. The Internet system shall be accessible to the public and searchable by address, apartment number, owner, and date.
(3) The Department of Community Affairs shall provide grants to municipal government to assist in digitization of rent control compliance records.
2. a. There is hereby established a rebuttable presumption of applicability of a municipal rent control ordinance with respect to the lease of a residential rental property for which rent control compliance records are missing or incomplete in the Internet system established and maintained pursuant to paragraph (2) of subsection c. of section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
b. A landlord who knowingly reports false information on a rent control compliance form shall be subject to a civil penalty of $150 for each offense, to be collected in a civil action by a summary proceeding under the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.). Each affected unit and each month the violation persists constitutes a separate offense.
3. The Department of Community Affairs shall audit the rent control compliance Internet system for municipal compliance with the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). The department shall publish an annual report identifying municipalities with deficient record-keeping practices and submit the report to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C:52:14-19.1), to the Legislature.
4. There is appropriated $2,000,000 from the General Fund to the Department of Community Affairs to provide grants to municipal governments and assist in digitization of rent control compliance records.
5. Sections 1, 3, and 4 of
this act shall take effect immediately. Section 2 of this act shall take
effect on the first day of the 12th month next following enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires certain record keeping related to municipal rent control compliance. The bill directs the Department of Community Affairs (department) to publish a rent control compliance form for landlords of units located in municipalities that have adopted rent control ordinances to submit required information to the clerk of the municipality in which the unit is located. The bill requires the municipal clerk, or other municipal official as is designated by the clerk, to index and file the rent control compliance forms. The department would be required to develop and make available an Internet system for each municipality to digitize its rent control compliance records and make them available to the public on the department's Internet website. The bill appropriates $2 million to the department and directs the department to provide grants to municipalities to assist in the digitization of the municipality's rent control compliance records. The bill further authorizes the establishment of a municipal fee to pay for the municipality's actual costs of compliance with the bill.
The bill establishes that missing or incomplete records for a residential rental property constitutes presumption that no valid exemption to the municipal rent control ordinance exists. The bill also establishes a penalty for a landlord who knowingly provides false information on a rent control compliance form.
The bill further directs the department to conduct an audit of the Internet system and publish an annual report identifying municipalities with deficient record-keeping practices.
The bill provides a timeline for when certain information and resources are to be made available and when certain forms and recordkeeping standards are to be completed. The bill would take effect immediately, except that the provision that a missing or incomplete record will establish a presumption that no valid exemption exist shall not take effect until the first day of the twelfth month next following enactment, which is the deadline for municipal clerks to digitize the rent control compliance records.
