Read the full stored bill text
S4177
SENATE, No. 4177
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED MAY 11, 2026
Sponsored by:
Senator� BRIAN P. STACK
District 33 (Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
���� Requires certain record keeping related to municipal
rent control compliance; appropriates $2 million.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
requiring certain record keeping related to municipal
rent control compliance, supplementing P.L.1987, c.153, and making an
appropriation.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.� a.� (1)� On or before the
first day of the sixth month next following effective date of P.L.��� , c.���
(C.��������� ), every landlord owning a residential rental property located in
a municipality that has adopted a rent control ordinance shall file with the
clerk of the municipality, or with such other municipal official as is
designated by the clerk, a rent control compliance form on the form published
by the Department of Community Affairs pursuant to subsection c. of this
section.� The municipality may impose a fee for the submission of a rent
control compliance form in an amount necessary to pay for the municipality�s
actual costs in administering P.L.��� , c.��� (C.��������� ) (pending before
the Legislature as this bill).
���� (2)� Every landlord required
to file a rent control compliance form pursuant to paragraph (1) of this
subsection shall file an amended rent control compliance form within 20 days
after any change in the information required to be included therein.� No fee
shall be required for the filing of an amendment except where the ownership of
the premises is changed.
���� b.� The municipal clerk, or
such other municipal official as is designated by the clerk, shall index and
file the rent control compliance form and make it available for public
inspection upon request.� On or before the first day of the 12th month next following
the effective date of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.��������� ) (pending before the
Legislature as this bill), the clerk shall: (1) make all rent control
compliance forms available on the Internet website of the Department of
Community Affairs; and (2) submit historical rent control compliance records to
the Department of Community Affairs to be published on the department�s
Internet website through the Internet system established pursuant to paragraph
(2) of subsection c. of this section.� Paper and electronic records maintained
pursuant to this section shall be available and searchable by the public.�
Access to paper and electronic records maintained pursuant to this section
shall not be subject to restriction, fee, or application authorized pursuant to
P.L.1963, c.73 (C.47:1A-1 et seq.), commonly known as the open public records
act.
���� c.� (1)� The Department of
Community Affairs shall, within 30 days of the effective date of P.L.��� ,
c.��� (C.��������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), publish on
the department�s Internet website a rent control compliance form.� The form
shall include: (a) unit address, including municipality; (b) unit number; (c)
owner name; (d) registered agent, if the owner is a corporation; (e) rent
registration, and date of submission; (f) claimed exemption, and date of claim;
(g) certificate of occupancy, and date of issuance; (h) each filing, if any,
pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1987, c.153 (C.2A:42-84.4), and date of each; (i)
each rent control complaint, if any, and date of each; and (j) each enforcement
action, if any, and date of each.
���� (2)� On or before the first
day of the sixth month next following the effective date of P.L.��� , c.���
(C.��������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the Department of
Community Affairs shall establish and make available to the clerk of each
municipality in the State an Internet system to maintain rent control
compliance records.� The Internet system shall be accessible to the public and
searchable by address, apartment number, owner, and date.
���� (3)� The Department of
Community Affairs shall provide grants to municipal government to assist in
digitization of rent control compliance records.
���� 2.� a.� There is hereby
established a rebuttable presumption of applicability of a municipal rent
control ordinance with respect to the lease of a residential rental property
for which rent control compliance records are missing or incomplete in the
Internet system established and maintained pursuant to paragraph (2) of
subsection c. of section 1 of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.��������� ) (pending before
the Legislature as this bill).
���� b.� A landlord who knowingly
reports false information on a rent control compliance form shall be subject to
a civil penalty of $150 for each offense, to be collected in a civil action by
a summary proceeding under the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999,"
P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.).� Each affected unit and each month the
violation persists constitutes a separate offense.
���� 3.� The Department of
Community Affairs shall audit the rent control compliance Internet system for
municipal compliance with the provisions of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.��������� )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill).� The department shall publish an
annual report identifying municipalities with deficient record-keeping
practices and submit the report to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of
P.L.1991, c.164 (C:52:14-19.1), to the Legislature.
���� 4.� There is appropriated
$2,000,000 from the General Fund to the Department of Community Affairs to
provide grants to municipal governments and assist in digitization of rent
control compliance records.
���� 5.� Sections 1, 3, and 4 of
this act shall take effect immediately.� Section 2 of this act shall take
effect on the first day of the 12th month next following enactment.
STATEMENT
���� This bill
requires certain record keeping related to municipal
rent control compliance.� The bill directs the Department of Community Affairs
(department) to publish a rent control compliance form for landlords of units
located in municipalities that have adopted rent control ordinances to submit
required information to the clerk of the municipality in which the unit is
located.� The bill requires the municipal clerk, or other municipal official as
is designated by the clerk, to index and file the rent control compliance
forms.� The department would be required to develop and make available an
Internet system for each municipality to digitize its rent control compliance
records and make them available to the public on the department�s Internet
website.� The bill appropriates $2 million to the department and directs the
department to provide grants to municipalities to assist in the digitization of
the municipality�s rent control compliance records.� The bill further
authorizes the establishment of a municipal fee to pay for the municipality�s
actual costs of compliance with the bill.
���� The
bill establishes that missing or incomplete records for a residential rental
property constitutes presumption that no valid exemption to the municipal rent
control ordinance exists.� The bill also establishes a penalty for a landlord
who knowingly provides false information on a rent control compliance form.
���� The
bill further directs the department to conduct an audit of the Internet system
and publish an annual report identifying municipalities with deficient
record-keeping practices.
���� The
bill provides a timeline for when certain information and resources are to be
made available and when certain forms and recordkeeping standards are to be
completed.� The bill would take effect immediately, except that the provision
that a missing or incomplete record will establish a presumption that no valid
exemption exist shall not take effect until the first day of the twelfth month
next following enactment, which is the deadline for municipal clerks to
digitize the rent control compliance records.