STATEMENT TO

 

SENATE, No. 1093

 

with Assembly Floor Amendments

(Proposed By Assemblywoman CRUZ-PEREZ)

 

ADOPTED: MARCH 13, 1997

 

      These amendments would specify that the notice period required prior to eviction from public housing must comport with regulations of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. In a recent case, Housing Authority of the City of Newark v. Raindrop, 287 N.J. Super. 222 (App. Div. 1996), the court held that it did not have jurisdiction to enter a judgment for possession in an eviction case dealing with public housing, unless it could be shown that federal regulations pertaining to public housing leases were fully complied with, including the notice period required prior to eviction. The notice period is set forth in 42 U.S.C.§1437, and as interpreted by the court, requires "30 days advance adequate written notice of termination of lease for drug-related criminal activity," unless the public housing authority can prove that the "health and safety of other tenants or public housing agency employees is threatened.''