ASSEMBLY, No. 611
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
209th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2000 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman JOAN M. QUIGLEY
District 32 (Bergen and Hudson)
Assemblyman JOHN V. KELLY
District 36 (Bergen, Essex and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Permits billing of tenants' organizations to maintain certain utilities to rental premises.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
AN ACT concerning landlords and tenants, supplementing Title 2A of
the New Jersey Statutes and amending P.L.1974, c.49.
BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State
of New Jersey:
1. (New section) Whenever an electric, gas, water or sewer public
utility has provided written notice to tenants residing in rental premises
of a proposed discontinuance of service and the tenants so notified
have indicated a desire to continue service, but the utility has
determined that it would not be feasible to bill each tenant individually
for the service, the utility shall permit a tenants' organization
representing each tenant of the rental premises to accept billing for the
utility and shall continue providing the service to the premises
provided that payment is received.
2. (New section) Whenever a tenants' organization agrees to
accept billing for a utility service, the tenants comprising the
membership of the organization accepting and paying such billing shall
be permitted to deduct from each of their respective rental payments
to the landlord of the premises an amount corresponding to the
tenant's share of the utility payment.
3. Section 2 of P.L.1974, c.49 (C.2A:18-61.1) is amended to read
as follows:
2. No lessee or tenant or the assigns, under-tenants or legal
representatives of such lessee or tenant may be removed by the
Superior Court from any house, building, mobile home or land in a
mobile home park or tenement leased for residential purposes, other
than (1) owner-occupied premises with not more than two rental units
or a hotel, motel or other guest house or part thereof rented to a
transient guest or seasonal tenant; (2) a dwelling unit which is held in
trust on behalf of a member of the immediate family of the person or
persons establishing the trust, provided that the member of the
immediate family on whose behalf the trust is established permanently
occupies the unit; and (3) a dwelling unit which is permanently
occupied by a member of the immediate family of the owner of that
unit, provided, however, that exception (2) or (3) shall apply only in
cases in which the member of the immediate family has a
developmental disability, except upon establishment of one of the
following grounds as good cause:
a. The person fails to pay rent due and owing under the lease
whether the same be oral or written; provided that, for the purposes
EXPLANATION - Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not
enacted and intended to be omitted in the law.
Matter underlined thus is new matter.
of this section, any portion of rent unpaid by a tenant to a landlord but
utilized by the tenant to continue utility service to the rental premises
after receiving notice from an electric, gas, water or sewer public
utility that such service was in danger of discontinuance based on
nonpayment by the landlord, shall not be deemed to be unpaid rent.
b. The person has continued to be, after written notice to cease, so
disorderly as to destroy the peace and quiet of the occupants or other
tenants living in said house or neighborhood.
c. The person has willfully or by reason of gross negligence caused
or allowed destruction, damage or injury to the premises.
d. The person has continued, after written notice to cease, to
substantially violate or breach any of the landlord's rules and
regulations governing said premises, provided such rules and
regulations are reasonable and have been accepted in writing by the
tenant or made a part of the lease at the beginning of the lease term.
e. (1) The person has continued, after written notice to cease, to
substantially violate or breach any of the covenants or agreements
contained in the lease for the premises where a right of reentry is
reserved to the landlord in the lease for a violation of such covenant
or agreement, provided that such covenant or agreement is reasonable
and was contained in the lease at the beginning of the lease term.
(2) In public housing under the control of a public housing
authority or redevelopment agency, the person has substantially
violated or breached any of the covenants or agreements contained in
the lease for the premises pertaining to illegal uses of controlled
dangerous substances, or other illegal activities, whether or not a right
of reentry is reserved to the landlord in the lease for a violation of such
covenant or agreement, provided that such covenant or agreement
conforms to federal guidelines regarding such lease provisions and was
contained in the lease at the beginning of the lease term.
f. The person has failed to pay rent after a valid notice to quit and
notice of increase of said rent, provided the increase in rent is not
unconscionable and complies with any and all other laws or municipal
ordinances governing rent increases.
g. The landlord or owner (1) seeks to permanently board up or
demolish the premises because he has been cited by local or State
housing inspectors for substantial violations affecting the health and
safety of tenants and it is economically unfeasible for the owner to
eliminate the violations; (2) seeks to comply with local or State
housing inspectors who have cited him for substantial violations
affecting the health and safety of tenants and it is unfeasible to so
comply without removing the tenant; simultaneously with service of
notice of eviction pursuant to this clause, the landlord shall notify the
Department of Community Affairs of the intention to institute
proceedings and shall provide the department with such other
information as it may require pursuant to rules and regulations. The
department shall inform all parties and the court of its view with
respect to the feasibility of compliance without removal of the tenant
and may in its discretion appear and present evidence; (3) seeks to
correct an illegal occupancy because he has been cited by local or
State housing inspectors or zoning officers and it is unfeasible to
correct such illegal occupancy without removing the tenant; or (4) is
a governmental agency which seeks to permanently retire the premises
from the rental market pursuant to a redevelopment or land clearance
plan in a blighted area. In those cases where the tenant is being
removed for any reason specified in this subsection, no warrant for
possession shall be issued until P.L.1967, c.79 (C.52:31B-1 et seq.)
and P.L.1971, c.362 (C.20:4-1 et seq.) have been complied with.
h. The owner seeks to retire permanently the residential building
or the mobile home park from residential use or use as a mobile home
park, provided this subsection shall not apply to circumstances
covered under subsection g. of this section.
i. The landlord or owner proposes, at the termination of a lease,
reasonable changes of substance in the terms and conditions of the
lease, including specifically any change in the term thereof, which the
tenant, after written notice, refuses to accept; provided that in cases
where a tenant has received a notice of termination pursuant to
subsection g. of section 3 of P.L.1974, c.49 (C.2A:18-61.2), or has a
protected tenancy status pursuant to section 9 of the "Senior Citizens
and Disabled Protected Tenancy Act," P.L.1981, c.226
(C.2A:18-61.30), or pursuant to the "Tenant Protection Act of 1992,"
P.L.1991, c.509 (C.2A:18-61.40 et al.), the landlord or owner shall
have the burden of proving that any change in the terms and conditions
of the lease, rental or regulations both is reasonable and does not
substantially reduce the rights and privileges to which the tenant was
entitled prior to the conversion.
j. The person, after written notice to cease, has habitually and
without legal justification failed to pay rent which is due and owing.
k. The landlord or owner of the building or mobile home park is
converting from the rental market to a condominium, cooperative or
fee simple ownership of two or more dwelling units or park sites,
except as hereinafter provided in subsection l. of this section. Where
the tenant is being removed pursuant to this subsection, no warrant for
possession shall be issued until this act has been complied with. No
action for possession shall be brought pursuant to this subsection
against a senior citizen tenant or disabled tenant with protected
tenancy status pursuant to the "Senior Citizens and Disabled Protected
Tenancy Act," P.L.1981, c.226 (C.2A:18-61.22 et al.), or against a
qualified tenant under the "Tenant Protection Act of 1992," P.L.1991,
c.509 (C.2A:18-61.40 et al.), as long as the agency has not terminated
the protected tenancy status or the protected tenancy period has not
expired.
l. (1) The owner of a building or mobile home park, which is
constructed as or being converted to a condominium, cooperative or
fee simple ownership, seeks to evict a tenant or sublessee whose initial
tenancy began after the master deed, agreement establishing the
cooperative or subdivision plat was recorded, because the owner has
contracted to sell the unit to a buyer who seeks to personally occupy
it and the contract for sale calls for the unit to be vacant at the time of
closing. However, no action shall be brought against a tenant under
paragraph (1) of this subsection unless the tenant was given a
statement in accordance with section 6 of P.L.1975, c.311
(C.2A:18-61.9);
(2) The owner of three or less condominium or cooperative units
seeks to evict a tenant whose initial tenancy began by rental from an
owner of three or less units after the master deed or agreement
establishing the cooperative was recorded, because the owner seeks to
personally occupy the unit, or has contracted to sell the unit to a buyer
who seeks to personally occupy it and the contract for sale calls for
the unit to be vacant at the time of closing;
(3) The owner of a building of three residential units or less seeks
to personally occupy a unit, or has contracted to sell the residential
unit to a buyer who wishes to personally occupy it and the contract for
sale calls for the unit to be vacant at the time of closing.
m. The landlord or owner conditioned the tenancy upon and in
consideration for the tenant's employment by the landlord or owner as
superintendent, janitor or in some other capacity and such employment
is being terminated.
n. The person has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to, or if a
juvenile, has been adjudicated delinquent on the basis of an act which
if committed by an adult would constitute an offense under the
"Comprehensive Drug Reform Act of 1987," N.J.S.2C:35-1 et al.
involving the use, possession, manufacture, dispensing or distribution
of a controlled dangerous substance, controlled dangerous substance
analog or drug paraphernalia within the meaning of that act within or
upon the leased premises or the building or complex of buildings and
land appurtenant thereto, or the mobile home park, in which those
premises are located, and has not in connection with his sentence for
that offense either (1) successfully completed or (2) been admitted to
and continued upon probation while completing, a drug rehabilitation
program pursuant to N.J.S.2C:35-14; or, being the tenant or lessee of
such leased premises, knowingly harbors or harbored therein a person
who has been so convicted or has so pleaded, or otherwise permits or
permitted such a person to occupy those premises for residential
purposes, whether continuously or intermittently, except that this
subsection shall not apply to a person harboring or permitting a
juvenile to occupy the premises if the juvenile has been adjudicated
delinquent upon the basis of an act which if committed by an adult
would constitute the offense of use or possession under the said act.
No action for removal may be brought pursuant to this subsection
more than two years after the date of the adjudication or conviction or
more than two years after the person's release from incarceration
whichever is the later.
o. The person has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to, or if a
juvenile, has been adjudicated delinquent on the basis of an act which
if committed by an adult would constitute an offense under
N.J.S.2C:12-1 or N.J.S.2C:12-3 involving assault, or terroristic threats
against the landlord, a member of the landlord's family or an employee
of the landlord; or, being the tenant or lessee of such leased premises,
knowingly harbors or harbored therein a person who has been so
convicted or has so pleaded, or otherwise permits or permitted such
a person to occupy those premises for residential purposes, whether
continuously or intermittently. No action for removal may be brought
pursuant to this subsection more than two years after the adjudication
or conviction or more than two years after the person's release from
incarceration whichever is the later.
p. The person has been found, by a preponderance of the evidence,
liable in a civil action for removal commenced under this act for an
offense under N.J.S.2C:20-1 et al. involving theft of property located
on the leased premises from the landlord, the leased premises or other
tenants residing in the leased premises, or N.J.S.2C:12-1 or
N.J.S.2C:12-3 involving assault or terroristic threats against the
landlord, a member of the landlord's family or an employee of the
landlord, or under the "Comprehensive Drug Reform Act of 1987,"
N.J.S.2C:35-1 et al., involving the use, possession, manufacture,
dispensing or distribution of a controlled dangerous substance,
controlled dangerous substance analog or drug paraphernalia within
the meaning of that act within or upon the leased premises or the
building or complex of buildings and land appurtenant thereto, or the
mobile home park, in which those premises are located, and has not in
connection with his sentence for that offense either (1) successfully
completed or (2) been admitted to and continued upon probation while
completing a drug rehabilitation program pursuant to N.J.S.2C:35-14;
or, being the tenant or lessee of such leased premises, knowingly
harbors or harbored therein a person who committed such an offense,
or otherwise permits or permitted such a person to occupy those
premises for residential purposes, whether continuously or
intermittently, except that this subsection shall not apply to a person
who harbors or permits a juvenile to occupy the premises if the
juvenile has been adjudicated delinquent upon the basis of an act which
if committed by an adult would constitute the offense of use or
possession under the said "Comprehensive Drug Reform Act of 1987."
q. The person has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to, or if a
juvenile, has been adjudicated delinquent on the basis of an act which
if committed by an adult would constitute an offense under
N.J.S.2C:20-1 et al. involving theft of property from the landlord, the
leased premises or other tenants residing in the same building or
complex; or, being the tenant or lessee of such leased premises,
knowingly harbors therein a person who has been so convicted or has
so pleaded, or otherwise permits such a person to occupy those
premises for residential purposes, whether continuously or
intermittently.
For purposes of this section, (1) "developmental disability" means
any disability which is defined as such pursuant to section 3 of
P.L.1977, c.82 (C.30:6D-3); (2) "member of the immediate family"
means a person's spouse, parent, child or sibling, or a spouse, parent,
child or sibling of any of them; and (3) "permanently" occupies or
occupied means that the occupant maintains no other domicile at
which the occupant votes, pays rent or property taxes or at which rent
or property taxes are paid on the occupant's behalf.
(cf: P.L.1997, c.228, s.1)
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
The purpose of this bill is to prevent the constructive eviction of
tenants from their rental premises when a landlord who had agreed to
pay for certain utilities fails to do so. Current regulations provide that
a tenant be notified whenever electric, gas, water or sewer utilities are
in danger of being discontinued because of a failure on the part of the
landlord to pay for them. Under such circumstances, a utility company
is required to offer a tenant continued service to be billed to the
tenant, unless the utility company demonstrates that such billing is not
"feasible." Lack of feasibility is most likely to occur when the utility
is not one that can be billed to individual tenants, such as water.
This bill would require the utility company to allow a tenants'
organization to be billed for the service as a group. In addition, a
tenant belonging to such an organization would be permitted to deduct
from his rental payment an amount equal to his contribution for the
utility payment. The bill also amends the eviction laws to exclude this
situation from being considered nonpayment of rent. Thus, a landlord
would not have good cause to evict tenants who are withholding rent
to pay utility bills which are the obligation of the landlord.
Currently, tenants who are not allowed to maintain utilities to their
premises in this manner have no recourse but to be evicted and then to
seek relocation assistance, either from a municipality or the landlord.
This bill will help avoid evictions that would otherwise occur, and will
benefit municipalities in holding down costs of relocation assistance.