Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOHN DIMAIO
District 23 (Hunterdon, Somerset and Warren)
Assemblywoman MICHELE MATSIKOUDIS
District 21 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Specifies inapplicability of "Fair Chance in Housing Act" to county and municipal landlords.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act to exclude counties and municipalities from the "Fair Chance in Housing Act" and amending P.L.2021, c.110.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 3 of P.L.2021, c.110 (C.46:8-54) is amended to read as follows:
3. As used in this act:
"Applicant" means any person considered for, who requests to be considered for, or who requests to be considered for tenancy within a rental dwelling unit.
"Conditional offer" means an offer to rent or lease a rental dwelling unit to an applicant that is contingent on a subsequent inquiry into the applicant's criminal record, or any other eligibility criteria that the housing provider may lawfully utilize.
"Criminal record" means information about an individual collected by criminal justice agencies consisting of identifiable descriptions and notations of arrests, detentions, indictments, criminal complaints, or other formal criminal charges, and any disposition arising therefrom, including acquittal, sentencing, correctional supervision, release or conviction, including, but not limited to, any sentence arising from a verdict or plea of guilty or nolo contendere, including a sentence of incarceration, a suspended sentence, a sentence of probation, or a sentence of conditional discharge.
"Director" means the Director of the Division on Civil Rights.
"Division" means the Division on Civil Rights in the Department of Law and Public Safety.
"Housing provider" means a landlord, an owner, lessor, sublessor, assignee, or their agent, or any other person receiving or entitled to receive rents or benefits for the use or occupancy of any rental dwelling unit, except that this term shall not include a county or municipality that directly rents one or more residential units to a tenant or tenants.
"Pending criminal accusation" means an existing accusation that an individual has committed a crime, lodged by a law enforcement agency through an indictment, information, complaint, or other formal charge.
"Rental dwelling unit" means a dwelling unit offered for rent by a housing provider for residential purposes, other than a dwelling unit in an owner-occupied premises of not more than four dwelling units or any dwelling unit rented to a tenant by a county or municipality.
(cf: P.L.2021, c.110, s.3).
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would amend the "Fair Chance in Housing Act," P.L.2021, c.110 (C.46:8-52 et seq.), to clarify that a county or municipality that directly rents one or more residential units to one or more tenants is not a housing provider, as defined in that act.
During 2021, the Legislature enacted the "Fair Chance in Housing Act" for the purpose of establishing certain housing rights for persons with criminal records. That enactment was designed to expand opportunities for people with criminal records to find safe, affordable housing and reduce recidivism. Since enactment of the "Fair Chance in Housing Act," it has been disputed whether the acts provisions apply to a county or municipal government that directly rent one or more residential units to one or more tenants. This bill resolves those disputes by specifically providing that the "Fair Chance in Housing Act" does not apply to a county or municipal or county government that directly rents one or more residential units to one or more tenants.