Requires Bureau of Housing Inspection to establish hotline and maintain database for public housing occupants to lodge complaints concerning living conditions.

S3937

SENATE, No. 3937

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MARCH 12, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� BENJIE E. WIMBERLY

District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires Bureau of Housing Inspection to establish
hotline and maintain database for public housing occupants to lodge complaints
concerning living conditions.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning the reporting of health and safety living
conditions for certain public housing occupants and supplementing P.L.1967,
c.76 (C.55:13A-1 et seq.).

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

���� 1.��� a.�������� Within one
year of the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill), the Bureau of Housing Inspection
in the Department of Community Affairs shall establish and maintain a toll-free
telephone hotline available 24 hours a day, seven days per week, through which
occupants of public housing, as determined under the federal "United
States Housing Act of 1937" (42 U.S.C. s.1437 et seq.), may lodge
complaints concerning any health, safety, or general well-being issues related
to the living conditions associated with the public housing facility. �

���� b.��� The hotline established
pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall:

���� (1)�� include among its staff of
live operators persons who speak English and Spanish;

���� (2)�� offer a multilingual,
interactive voice technology response as an alternative option; and

���� (3)�� protect caller
anonymity.

���� c.���� The hotline shall
receive calls related to the living conditions associated with public housing and
may respond to each call with general or individualized information regarding
the laws, regulations, policies, and procedures relevant to the complaints.�
Upon the request of a public housing occupant who calls the hotline, the hotline
shall provide the occupant with appropriate referrals for further assistance.� The
bureau may employ different technologies and processes in operation of the
hotline to ensure efficiency and integrity.

���� 2.��� a.��� The bureau shall
establish and maintain a centralized, Statewide database compiling the substantiated
complaints lodged from the hotline established pursuant to section 1 of P.L.��
, c.�� (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) for which the bureau
shall use to develop a comparative living condition profile of the applicable
public housing facilities, and shall post the profile for public inspection on
the bureau�s Internet website in an easily accessible location.� The bureau may
employ different technologies and processes in operation of the database to
ensure efficiency and integrity.

���� b.��� The database established
pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall contain information including,
but not limited to:

���� (1)�� the total number of
substantiated complaints lodged, including the total number of substantiated
complaints lodged per public housing facility;

���� (2)�� categories concerning
the nature of the substantiated complaints of the living conditions;

���� (3)�� whether the Commissioner
of Community Affairs, or local agency pursuant to subsection b. of section 3 of
P.L.1987, c.30 (C.55:13A-13a), have discovered a violation of P.L.1967, c.76
(C.55:13A-1 et seq.) or any other law affecting the habitability or living
conditions of the public facility;

���� (4)�� the specific corrective
actions that were taken, and number of reinspections necessary, if any, to
address the substantiated complaints or violations; and

���� (5)�� the average response
time from the time of the substantiated complaint being lodged on the hotline
to the time the condition was addressed and, as applicable, abated.

���� 3.��� The Commissioner of
Community Affairs, in accordance with the "Administrative Procedure
Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt rules and
regulations as necessary to effectuate the provisions of P.L.��� , c.���
(C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) to ensure the
integrity of both the telephone hotline and the database established pursuant
to sections 1 and 2 of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� and������� ) (pending before
the Legislature as this bill), and to encourage public housing occupants to use
the hotline, by providing for:

���� a.���� the confidentiality of
the names of the occupants calling the hotline and any individual named or otherwise
identified during a call; and

���� b.��� the posting, in each
public housing facility, of the hotline number and the database Internet
website in one or more easily accessible, publicly conspicuous locations.

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

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires the Bureau
of Housing Inspection in the Department of Community Affairs to establish and
maintain a toll-free telephone hotline available 24 hours a day, seven days per
week, through which occupants of public housing, as determined under the
federal "United States Housing Act of 1937" (42 U.S.C. s.1437 et
seq.), may lodge complaints concerning any health, safety, or general
well-being issues related to the living conditions associated with the public
housing facility.�

���� The hotline is required, at a
minimum, to:

�

include among its staff of live operators persons who speak
English and Spanish;

�

offer a multilingual, interactive voice technology response as an
alternative option; and

�

protect caller anonymity.

���� Under the bill, the hotline is
required to receive calls related to the living conditions associated with
public housing and is authorized to respond to each call with general or
individualized information regarding the laws, regulations, policies, and procedures
relevant to the complaints.�

���� The bill also requires the
bureau to establish and maintain a centralized, Statewide database compiling
the substantiated complaints lodged from the hotline for the development of a
comparative profile of the applicable public housing facilities, and to post
the profile for public inspection on the bureau�s Internet website in an easily
accessible location.

���� The database is required to
contain information including, but not limited to:

�

the total number of substantiated complaints lodged, including
the total number of substantiated complaints lodged per public housing
facility;

�

categories concerning the nature of the substantiated complaints
of the living conditions;

�

whether the Commissioner of Community Affairs or local agency
have discovered a violation of P.L.1967, c.76 (C.55:13A-1 et seq.) or any other
law affecting the habitability or living conditions of the public facility;

�

the specific corrective actions that were taken, and number of
reinspections necessary, if any, to address the substantiated complaints or
violations; and

�

the average response time from the time of the substantiated
complaint being lodged on the hotline to the time the condition was addressed
and, as applicable, abated.

���� To ensure the integrity of
both the telephone hotline and the database, and to encourage public housing
occupants to use the hotline, the commissioner is required to adopt rules and
regulations to provide for: the confidentiality of the names of the occupants
calling the hotline and any individual named or otherwise identified during a
call; and the posting, in each public housing facility, of the hotline number
and the database Internet website in one or more easily accessible, publicly
conspicuous locations.� The bureau is authorized to employ different
technologies and processes in operation of both the hotline and the database to
ensure efficiency and integrity.