ASSEMBLY, No. 1129

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Assemblywoman MURPHY

An Act concerning affordable housing services and amending the "Fair Housing Act," P.L.1985, c.222.

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

    1. Section 24 of P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-324) is amended to read as follows:

    24. The agency shall establish procedures for entering into, and shall enter into, contractual agreements with willing municipalities or developers of inclusionary developments whereby the agency will administer resale controls and rent controls in municipalities where no appropriate administrative agency exists. The contractual agreements shall be for the duration of the controls and shall involve eligibility determinations, determination of initial occupants, the marketing of units, maintenance of eligibility lists for subsequent purchasers or renters, and determination of maximum resale prices or rents. The agency may charge the municipality or inclusionary developer a reasonable per unit fee for entering into such an agreement, or may charge a reasonable fee to a low or moderate income household at the time the home is sold subject to the resale control or both. Agency fees shall be established according to methods or schedules approved by the State Treasurer.

    Neither the agency nor any other entity entering into an agreement to provide services to a municipality under this section shall require, as a condition of that agreement, that these services be provided for all eligible housing units in the municipality. A municipality, at its discretion, may enter into an agreement for the provision of services for any reasonable portion of its eligible housing units.

(cf: P.L.1985, c.222, s.24)

    2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    The "Fair Housing Act," P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-301 et al.), requires the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (HMFA) to offer certain services to municipalities and developers which are providing affordable housing under the act. These services include determination of occupant eligibility, marketing of units and determination of maximum resale prices or rents. These services presently are being provided by the Affordable Housing Management Service (AHMS) of the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) under a memorandum of understanding with HMFA.

    This bill would clarify the intention of the Legislature that AHMS, or any other entity, provide these services for any reasonable portion of a municipality's affordable housing units. Thus a municipality might seek to maximize cost efficiency by servicing the remaining units itself or contracting with another provider.

Allows affordable housing services for portion of municipality's eligible units.