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A2059
ASSEMBLY, No. 2059
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman SHAMA A. HAIDER
District 37 (Bergen)
Assemblyman AL ABDELAZIZ
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblywoman MELINDA KANE
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Morales
SYNOPSIS
���� Eliminates court filing fees for individuals who are
sued for consumer debt.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning certain court filing fees and supplementing
Title 22A of the New Jersey Statutes.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.� a.� Notwithstanding the
provisions of sections 12, 13, or 19 of P.L.2014, c.31 (C.2B:1-7, C.2B:1-8, or
C.2B:1-13); section 14 of P.L.1991, c.177 (C.22A:2-37.1); or any other
provision of law to the contrary, no individual who is a defendant in an action
to collect a consumer debt or associated fees or costs shall be charged any
court fee to file an appearance, answer to a complaint, counterclaim,
cross-claim or third-party complaint in the Special Civil Part of the Superior
Court, Law Division, including a small claim, or in the Civil Part of the
Superior Court, Law Division.
���� b.� As used in this act,
�consumer debt� means debt incurred by an individual primarily for a personal,
family, or household purpose. �Consumer debt� shall also include consumer
credit, as that term is defined in section 1 of P.L.1974, c.146 (C.56:11-1),
and medical debt, as that term is defined in section 2 of P.L.2024, c.48
(C.56:11-57).
�
���� 2.� This act shall take effect
on the 90
th
day following enactment.
STATEMENT
���� This bill would eliminate court
filing fees for individuals who are sued to collect consumer debt. The bill
provides that no such individual could be charged a court fee to file an
appearance, an answer to a complaint, a counterclaim, a cross-claim, or a
third-party complaint in the Special Civil Part of the Superior Court, Law
Division, including a small claim, or in the Civil Part of the Superior Court,
Law Division.
���� The bill defines� �consumer
debt� as debt incurred by an individual primarily for a personal, family, or
household purpose, and includes consumer credit and medical debt as those terms
are defined under current law.
���� �According to reports, in the
majority of lawsuits to collect a consumer debt, the defendant does not respond
or try to defend against the lawsuit. As a result, courts often enter default
judgments against these defendants, leading to additional fees and interest as
well as garnishment of wages and bank accounts. Consumer debt claims are often
for relatively small sums, in amounts less than $10,000.
���� This bill is based on
Benchmark 5 in the 2024 �Consumer Debt Litigation Index� by the National Center
for Access to Justice. �