Prohibits fee for keeping emotional support animal in residential rental property.

A4726

ASSEMBLY, No. 4726

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MARCH 16, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman� KENYATTA STEWART

District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)

Assemblywoman� KATIE BRENNAN

District 32 (Hudson)

SYNOPSIS

���� Prohibits fee for keeping emotional support animal in
residential rental property.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
prohibiting certain fees for keeping an emotional
support animal in a residential rental property and supplementing chapter 8 of
Title 46 of the Revised Statutes.

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

���� 1.� As used in P.L.��� , c.���
(C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):

���� "Emotional support
animal" means an animal that a health service provider has determined
provides the emotional support, well-being, comfort, or companionship necessary
to alleviate the symptoms of a mental, emotional, psychological, or psychiatric
condition or illness.� An emotional support animal shall not be subject to the
provisions of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.��������� ) (pending before the Legislature as
this bill) if it poses a risk to the health or safety of other people or a risk
of substantial damage to the property.

���� "Landlord" means
any person or entity, or their agent, who rents or leases or offers to
rent or lease, for a term of at least one month, dwelling units, except dwelling
units in hotels, motels, or other guest houses serving transient or seasonal
guests.�
"
Landlord
"
also
means a third-party screening vendor used by an owner, lessor, or property
manager of a residential rental dwelling unit to screen prospective tenants or
facilitate a prospective tenant�s application for renting the dwelling unit.

����
"Substantial
damage" means damage that affects the structural integrity, safety,
sanitation, or habitability of the dwelling unit or residential building or
requires repair or replacement beyond that required due to ordinary wear and
tear.

���� "Tenant" means any
person who rents or leases, for a term of at least one month, a dwelling unit,
except dwelling units in hotels, motels, or other guest houses serving
transient or seasonal guests.� "Tenant" shall also mean an applicant,
prospective tenant, or other person who applies to rent or lease, or seeks to
rent or lease, for a term of at least one month, a dwelling unit, except a
dwelling unit in hotels, motels, or other guest houses serving transient or
seasonal guests.

����
"
Third-party screening vendor
"
means a company
or vendor that engages in the business of collecting, assembling, and
evaluating residential tenant applications for the purpose of facilitating a
landlord�s approval or rejection of a prospective tenant�s application.

���� 2.� a.� A landlord shall not
charge a tenant any additional rent, fees, or other increases to the monthly
rent or monthly fees, nonrefundable or otherwise, because a tenant keeps, or
intends to keep, an emotional support animal in the dwelling unit.

���� b.� A landlord shall not
require as a condition for any lease, lease addendum, or lease application that
a tenant pay any additional security deposit, fees, or charges, nonrefundable
or otherwise, because a tenant keeps, or intends to keep, an emotional support
animal in the dwelling unit.

���� c.� A landlord shall not
include within any lease, lease addendum, or lease application a provision
requiring additional fees or charges, nonrefundable or otherwise, because a
tenant keeps, or intends to keep, an emotional support animal in the dwelling
unit.

���� d.� At time of lease signing, or
promptly following the tenant's receipt of health documentation and prior to
the tenant's acquisition of an emotional support animal, whichever is earlier,
a tenant shall provide to the landlord documentation from a health service
provider indicating that the tenant is being prescribed the assistance of an
emotional support animal.� A landlord shall not require documentation in a
specific form and shall not require that documentation from a health service
provider be notarized.

���� e.� This section shall not
apply to a landlord or tenant of an owner-occupied building containing four or
fewer units.

���� 3.� a.
� A tenant
shall have the right to petition a court of competent jurisdiction to terminate
a lease or agreement containing a provision in violation of P.L.��� , c.���
(C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), and shall be
permitted to recover reasonable attorney�s fees or expenses.

���� b.� A
landlord
who violates section 2 of
P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������ ) (pending
before the Legislature as this bill)
shall also, at the discretion of
the tenant, be subject to a separate cause of action by the tenant in the
Superior Court, Law Division, Special Civil Part in the county in which the dwelling
unit is located.� A tenant may recover $1,000 from the landlord for each
offense, in addition to reasonable attorney�s fees or expenses.�

���� c.� A landlord shall be
subject to the penalties set forth in this section for each violation of
P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������ ) (pending before the Legislature as this
bill)
, which may be brought pursuant to subsection b. of this section at
the tenant�s discretion.�

���� d.� The remedies available to
a tenant pursuant to this section shall function in addition to, and shall not
be construed or interpreted to interfere with, the remedies available to a
tenant, licensee, executor, administrator or surviving spouse, or other person
acting on behalf of a tenant, licensee, executor, administrator or surviving
spouse, pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1971, c.223 (C.46:8-21.1).

���� 4.� This act shall take effect
on the first day of the fourth month next following the date of enactment and
shall apply to tenancies commencing on or after the effective date of the act,
and to oral or written representations made by a landlord, applications offered
by a landlord, and submitted applications by a tenant beginning on or after the
effective date of this act.

STATEMENT

���� This bill prohibits a landlord
from charging a tenant, including an applicant or prospective tenant,
additional rent or fees because the tenant has an emotional support animal, as
defined in the bill, or intends to keep an emotional support animal in the
residential rental dwelling unit.� A tenant would be required to provide the
landlord with documentation from a health service provider indicating that the
tenant is prescribed the assistance of an emotional support animal at the time
of lease signing or promptly following a tenant�s receipt of applicable medical
documentation, whichever is earlier.� The bill would not apply to a landlord or
tenant in an owner-occupied building containing four or fewer units or to an
animal that poses a risk to the health or safety of other people or a risk of
substantial damage to the property, as defined in the bill.

���� The bill defines the term "tenant"
to mean: (1) any person who rents or leases, for a term of at least one month,
a dwelling unit, except dwelling units in hotels, motels, or other guest houses
serving transient or seasonal guests; and (2) an applicant, prospective tenant,
or other person who applies to rent or lease, or seeks to rent or lease, for a
term of at least one month, dwelling units, except dwelling units in hotels,
motels, or other guest houses serving transient or seasonal guests.

���� Specifically, the bill
prohibits a landlord from:

���� (1)� charging a tenant, as
defined in the bill, additional rent, fees, or other increases to the monthly
rent, nonrefundable or otherwise, because the tenant keeps, or intends to keep,
an emotional support animal in the dwelling unit;

���� (2)� requiring as a condition
for a lease, lease addendum, or lease application that a tenant pay any
additional fees, security deposits, or charges, nonrefundable or otherwise,
because the tenant keeps, or intends to keep, an emotional support animal in
the dwelling unit; and

���� (3)� including within any
lease, lease addendum, or lease application a provision requiring additional
fees or charges, nonrefundable or otherwise, because the tenant keeps, or
intends to keep, an emotional support animal in the dwelling unit.

���� A violation of the bill would:

���� (1)�
permit a
tenant to petition the court to terminate a lease or agreement in violation of the
bill, and to recover reasonable attorney�s fees or expenses; and

���� (2)�
subject
a landlord to a private cause of action, brought at the discretion of the
tenant, who would be permitted to recover $1,000 from the landlord for each offense,
in addition to reasonable attorney�s fees or expenses
.

���� The remedies
provided to a tenant are to function in addition to, and are not to interfere
with, existing remedies available pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1971, c.223
(C.46:8-21.1 et seq.).�

���� The bill is to take effect on
the first day of the fourth month following enactment, and apply to tenancies
commencing on or after the effective date of the bill, and to oral or written
representations made by a landlord, applications offered by a landlord, and
submitted applications by a tenant beginning on or after the effective date of
the bill.