S3321

An Act concerning rental assistance and amending P.L.2004, c.140.

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

1. Section 1 of P.L.2004, c.140 (C.52:27D-287.1) is amended to read as follows:

1. The Commissioner of Community Affairs shall establish a rental assistance program for low income individuals or households. This program shall be in addition to and supplement any existing programs established pursuant to the "Prevention of Homelessness Act (1984)," P.L.1984, c.180 (C.52:27D-280 et al.).

a. The program shall provide rental assistance grants comparable to the federal section 8 program, but shall be available only to State residents who are not currently holders of federal section 8 vouchers.

b. Assistance to an individual or household under the State program shall be terminated upon the award of federal section 8 rental assistance to the same individual or household.

c. The program shall reserve a portion of the grants for assistance to senior citizens aged 62 or older who otherwise meet the criteria of subsection a. of this section.

d. The program shall reserve a portion of the grants for assistance to veterans who have successfully completed the Veterans Transitional Housing Program, or "Veterans Haven," a vocational and transitional housing program for homeless veterans administered by the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs.

e. The program shall reserve a portion of the funds available to it for tenant-based vouchers to veterans, other than those veterans eligible for assistance pursuant to subsection d. of this section.

f. The program shall reserve a portion of the funds available to it for tenant-based vouchers for persons displaced due to the redevelopment of affordable housing. If an affordable housing development is being redeveloped into a new affordable housing development, the persons displaced due to the redevelopment who continue to qualify for low income housing upon completion of the project, shall be granted priority status for the new affordable housing units.

(1) Prior to the redevelopment of the affordable housing development and subsequent displacement of tenants, the designated municipal official or the administrative agent of the new affordable housing development shall notify tenants of their priority status for the new affordable housing development upon its completion. The notification to the tenants shall also include a mutually agreed upon process to establish a preferred communication method, physical or electronic, to alert the displaced persons of the completion of the redevelopment and acceptance of applications from prospective tenants.

(2) Within 30 days after the new affordable housing development begins to accept applications from prospective tenants, the designated municipal official or the administrative agent of the new affordable housing development shall notify those displaced persons. The notification from the designated municipal official or the administrative agent to the displaced persons shall include a recognition of the displaced persons’ temporary priority status for the new affordable housing development and the availability of tenant-based vouchers from the Department of Community Affairs for persons displaced by the redevelopment of an affordable housing development.

(3) After 30 days have elapsed following the date of notification from the designated municipal official or the administrative agent of the new affordable housing development to the displaced persons, those displaced shall be granted 90 days to respond to the notice. After the 90 days have elapsed, the persons displaced due to the redevelopment no longer retain their priority status and the units in the new affordable housing development reserved for displaced persons may be used for other tenants.

(4) For the purposes of this subsection:

“Affordable housing” means housing occupied or restricted to occupancy by households with income no greater than 80 percent of the regional median income, including but not limited to housing that is deed restricted as affordable pursuant to the “Fair Housing Act,” P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-301 et al.).

“Affordable housing development” means a development that includes one or more units of affordable housing.

“Priority status” means a classification given to persons displaced by the redevelopment of an affordable housing development for the temporary reservation of units in the new affordable housing development that are substantially similar in size, quantity of bedrooms and bathrooms, and accommodations for the displaced persons upon the completion of the redevelopment insofar as the displaced persons continue to qualify to reside in the new affordable housing development.

“Redevelopment” means any project where the extent and nature of the work is such that a residential unit cannot be occupied while the work is in progress and where a new certificate of occupancy is required before the residential unit can be reoccupied. When these conditions exist, redevelopment includes, but is not limited to demolition, reconstruction, repair, renovation, alteration, or rehabilitation.

(cf: P.L.2017, c.29, s.1)

2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill would reserve a portion of the tenant-based rental assistance vouchers under the State rental assistance program (SRAP) to provide recourse for persons displaced due to the redevelopment of affordable housing. If an affordable housing development is being redeveloped into a new affordable housing development, the persons displaced due to the redevelopment who continue to qualify for low income housing upon completion of the affordable housing development, would be granted priority status for the new affordable housing development.