Consolidates certain affordable housing and assistance applications.

A1686

ASSEMBLY, No. 1686

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

Assemblywoman TENNILLE R. MCCOY

District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblymen Sampson, Miller and Assemblywoman Brennan

SYNOPSIS

���� Consolidates certain affordable housing and
assistance applications.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act

concerning the consolidation of affordable
housing pre-applications and subsidies and supplementing P.L.1983, c.530
(C.55:14K-1 et seq.).

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.� a.� The New Jersey Housing
and Mortgage Finance Agency shall establish, and make available on the Internet
website of the New Jersey Housing Resource Center or its successor, a singular
online application for individuals to pre-apply to multiple affordable and
senior housing units and housing developments at one time.� The application
shall serve only as a pre-application to determine initial eligibility and
standing on waitlists for the available housing and shall not serve as a final
determination of eligibility.� The application shall provide an individual the
ability to select specific municipalities, counties, and general regions of the
State for housing they wish to pre-apply.� The application shall be applicable
to all housing listed on the center�s website, which shall include, but is not
limited to: rental housing, for-sale housing, temporary housing, and priority
housing.

���� b.� The agency, in
collaboration with the Division of Housing and Community Resources in the
Department of Community Affairs, shall consolidate all applications for housing
and housing related subsidies provided under any State or federal subsidy
program into one application which shall be incorporated into the singular
online application established pursuant to subsection a. of this section.� The
application consolidating housing and housing related subsidy applications
shall have the capability to serve as a final determination of eligibility.� The
consolidated application shall include, but shall not be limited to:

���� (1)� the Section 8: Housing
Choice Voucher Program;

���� (2)� the State Rental
Assistance Program;

���� (3)� Housing Opportunities for
People with AIDS;

���� (4)� Veterans Affairs
Supportive Housing;

���� (5)� the Homeless Prevention
Program;

���� (6)� the Homeless Prevention
and Rapid Re-Housing Program;

���� (7)� the Low Income Home
Energy Assistance Program;

���� (8)� the Universal Service
Fund;

���� (9)� the Weatherization
Assistance Program; and

���� (10)� the Lead-Safe Home
Remediation Program.

���� c.� The agency shall, pursuant
to the �Administrative Procedure Act,� P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.),
adopt rules or regulations as are necessary to effectuate the provisions of
this act.

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� The bill directs the New
Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency to establish, and make available on
the Internet website of the New Jersey Housing Resource Center or its
successor, a singular online application for individuals to pre-apply to
multiple affordable and senior housing units and housing developments at one
time.� The bill also consolidates applications for housing and housing related subsidies
into one application and incorporates this application into the singular online
application to pre-apply for affordable housing.� Currently, there is no
centralized application with this capability.� Instead, individuals must keep
track of their standing on multiple pre-application waitlists and fill out
substantially similar applications for each subsidy they seek.

���� Under the bill, the singular
online application would serve only as a pre-application to determine initial
eligibility and standing on waitlists for the available housing and would not
serve as a final determination of eligibility.� The application would provide
an individual the ability to select specific municipalities, counties, and
general regions of the State for housing they wish to pre-apply.� The
application would be applicable to all housing listed on the center�s website,
which would include, but would not be limited to: rental housing, for-sale
housing, temporary housing, and priority housing.

���� The bill also requires the
consolidation of all applications for housing and housing related subsidies
provided under any State or federal subsidy program into one application, which
would be incorporated into the singular online application.� The application
consolidating housing and housing related subsidy applications would have the
capability to serve as a final determination of eligibility.� The consolidated
application would include, but would not be limited to:

���� (1)� the Section 8: Housing
Choice Voucher Program;

���� (2)� the State Rental
Assistance Program;

���� (3)� Housing Opportunities for
People with AIDS;

���� (4)� Veterans Affairs
Supportive Housing;

���� (5)� the Homeless Prevention
Program;

���� (6)� the Homeless Prevention
and Rapid Re-Housing Program;

���� (7)� the Low Income Home
Energy Assistance Program;

���� (8)� the Universal Service
Fund;

���� (9)� the Weatherization
Assistance Program; and

���� (10)� the Lead-Safe Home
Remediation Program.