Permits tenant to make rent payment into escrow account in event of persisting serious hazard in dwelling unit or to make repairs and deduct cost from future rent.

S3995

SENATE, No. 3995

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MARCH 19, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT

District 31 (Hudson)

SYNOPSIS

���� Permits tenant to make rent payment into escrow
account in event of persisting serious hazard in dwelling unit or to make
repairs and deduct cost from future rent.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act

concerning rent payments and repairs in
residential rental units and supplementing chapter 42 of Title 2A of the
Revised Statutes.

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

���� 1.��� a.�������� For the
purpose of this section:

���� �Serious hazard affecting
habitability� or� �serious hazard� means a deficiency in a vital facility,
including, but not limited to, mold, unsafe staircases, missing or
nonfunctional locks, broken toilets, lack of hot or cold water, lack of
electricity, or broken heating system.

���� b.� A residential tenant may
remit rent payments into a separate escrow account if, after providing
notification to the landlord and reasonable time for repairs to occur, a
serious hazard affecting habitability persists within the tenant�s dwelling
unit or the dwelling unit property.� Upon completion of repairs to address a
serious hazard the tenant shall provide due payments to the landlord from the
escrow account.

���� c.���� Payment of residential rent
into an escrow account following the persistence of a serious hazard shall not
be considered grounds for eviction as a default of rent payment or other grounds
for eviction pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1974, c.49 (C.2A:18-61.1).

���� 2.��� a.�������� If a
residential landlord fails to make repairs of facilities within a dwelling unit
that are necessary to maintain habitability after being given written notification
and a reasonable time to make a repair, including, but not limited to, repairs
involving mold, unsafe staircases, or broken heating system, a residential
tenant may make arrangements for repair and further deduct the cost of repair in
an amount up to four months of rent payments under the terms of the residential
lease.�

���� b.��� Deduction of rent from
the cost of repairs made by a tenant shall not be considered grounds for
eviction as a default of rent payment or other grounds for eviction pursuant to
section 2 of P.L.1974, c.49 (C.2A:18-61.1).

���� 3.��� This act shall take effect
on the first day of the first month after enactment.

STATEMENT

���� This bill permits a tenant to
pay rent into an escrow account or make arrangements for the repair and deduct up
to four months rent when a serious hazard affecting habitability, as defined in
the bill, persists within the dwelling unit.� Serious hazards can include mold,
unsafe staircases, broken heating systems, and other deficiencies in vital
facilities.

���� The bill provides that a
tenant may remit rent payments into an escrow account if, after notifying the
landlord and providing reasonable time for the repairs to occur, a serious
hazard affecting habitability persist within the dwelling unit or on the
property of the dwelling unit. �The bill provides that utilization of an escrow
account to withhold rent payments from a landlord in the event of a serious
hazard affecting habitability will not be grounds for eviction.

���� The bill additionally codifies
and expands repair and deduct principles.� Under the bill a tenant is
authorized to deduct up to four months from future rent to make arrangements
for repairs if a landlord does not repair a serious hazard affecting
habitability.� Prior to applying repair and deduct, the bill requires that a
tenant provide written notification to the landlord detailing the serious
hazard affecting habitability and allow for a reasonable time for the landlord
to make the repair.