SENATE COMMUNITY AND URBAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 2957

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  NOVEMBER 14, 2019

      The Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 2957, with committee amendments.

      As amended, this bill establishes a five-year moratorium on the conversion of residential premises into condominium or cooperative housing developments (“condominium conversions”) in certain qualified counties. 

      Under the “Tenant Protection Act of 1992,” P.L.1991, c.509 (C.2A:18-61.40 et al.), the State currently provides protections for certain tenants residing in qualified counties in the event of a condominium conversion.  As defined in the law, a qualified county includes any county with a population in excess of 500,000 persons and a population density in excess of 8,500 persons per square mile, according to the most recent federal decennial census.  Hudson County is currently the only county in the State that meets this definition.

      The bill amends the “Tenant Protection Act of 1992” to prohibit, during the five-year period immediately following the enactment of the bill, the Department of Community Affairs from approving certain condominium conversions that would be located in a qualified county.  The bill also provides that any required documentation concerning a proposed condominium conversion in a qualified county, including, but not limited to, an application for registration of conversion, notice of intention to convert, full plan of conversion, and public offering statement, would be considered null and void if submitted during the five-year period immediately following the enactment of the bill.  Given that only Hudson County meets the definition of a qualified county, the five-year moratorium on condominium conversions would only be established in that county. 

      However, the five-year moratorium established by the bill would not apply to the conversion of any existing planned real estate development, as defined in section 3 of “The Planned Real Estate Development Full Disclosure Act,” P.L.1977, c.419 (C.45:22A-23), to an alternative form of planned real estate development, such as the conversion of an existing cooperative into a condominium.

      Under the bill, a condominium conversion is defined as any change to an apartment complex or other residential housing development which would cause the complex or development to constitute a planned real estate development (e.g., condominium), as defined by “The Planned Real Estate Development Full Disclosure Act,” P.L.1977, c.419 (C.45:22A-21 et seq.).

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS

      The committee amended the bill to provide that the five-year moratorium would not apply to the conversion of any existing planned real estate development, as defined in section 3 of “The Planned Real Estate Development Full Disclosure Act,” P.L.1977, c.419 (C.45:22A-23), to an alternative form of planned real estate development, such as the conversion of an existing cooperative into a condominium.