SENATE, No. 2142

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

218th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED MARCH 5, 2018

 


 

Sponsored by:

Senator  ROBERT M. GORDON

District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)

Senator  NILSA CRUZ-PEREZ

District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Requires landlords to provide receipts for cash payments from tenants.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As introduced.

  


An Act requiring landlords to provide receipts for cash payments from tenants and supplementing P.L.1975, c.310 (C.46:8-43 et seq.).

 

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

 

     1.    The Legislature finds and declares that the practice of some residential landlords of refusing to provide receipts to tenants for cash payments is unfair and harmful to those tenants.  The Legislature also finds and declares that while the harm to tenants may not always be easily quantifiable, it is nevertheless real.  Not having a rent receipt to prove that rent, or other money due and owing to a landlord has been paid, exposes a tenant to an eviction action for nonpayment, and the tenant will likely not be able to prove the payment was made, for lack of the receipt.  The lack of a receipt showing that money due and owing to a landlord has been paid, could result in the eviction of a family from its home.

     It is the intent of the Legislature that a landlord shall provide a receipt to a tenant who pays in cash for rent, or other amounts owed related to the tenancy.  It is also the intent of the Legislature that a landlord who does not provide a receipt to a tenant in exchange for a cash payment shall be subject to financial penalties.

 

     2.    As used in P.L.    , c.     (C.       ), “landlord” means any person who rents or leases, or offers to rent or lease, a dwelling unit for a term of at least one month, that is not located in a hotel, motel, or other guest house serving transient or seasonal guests.

 

     3.    a.   A landlord shall provide a written receipt to a tenant for each cash payment made to the landlord for any amount due to the landlord pursuant to a residential lease, renewal, or extension agreement, whether oral or written.  The receipt shall include the following information:

     (1)   the name and address of the landlord;

     (2)   the name and title of the agent of the landlord, if the cash payment is made to an agent;

     (3)   the name and address of the tenant;

     (4)   the date and amount of the cash payment;

     (5)   a description of what the cash payment covers, including, when the payment is for rent, the month or other period of time that the cash payment covers; and

     (6)   the signature of the landlord, or the agent of the landlord, as applicable.

     A landlord shall retain a paper copy of each receipt provided to a tenant for two calendar years.

      b.   A landlord who violates the provisions of this section shall be subject to a penalty of $100 for a first offense, $200 for a second offense, and $300 for each additional offense.  Penalties shall be collected and enforced by summary proceedings pursuant to "the penalty enforcement law" (N.J.S.2A:58-1 et seq.). The Superior Court, Law Division, Special Civil Part in the county in which the rental premises are located shall have jurisdiction over such proceedings.  Process shall be in the nature of a summons or warrant, and shall issue upon the complaint of the commissioner, the Attorney General, or any other person.

     c.     A tenant who does not receive a receipt from the landlord after making a cash payment, as required in subsection a. of this section, may file an action in Superior Court, Law Division, Special Civil Part, to require the landlord to provide the receipt.  The action shall be a summary proceeding using the standard of proof of preponderance of the evidence.  If the court requires the landlord to provide the receipt, the court shall award the tenant attorney’s fees and damages equal to triple the sum of all personal expenses incurred in filing the action, including, but not limited to, lost wages, court costs, and travel expenses.

     d.    A tenant who successfully defends against an action for possession based upon nonpayment of rent and proves that the landlord received a cash payment for the period covered by the action, but did not provide a receipt as required by subsection a. of this section, shall be awarded attorney’s fees, and one month rent, which shall be a set-off against future rent charges.  Such a tenant shall also be awarded an amount that is equal to triple the sum of all personal expenses incurred in defending against the action, including, but not limited to, lost wages, court costs, and travel expenses.

     In addition to amounts awarded to the tenant, the nonpayment of rent action shall be dismissed and marked as “wrongly filed.”

 

     4.    This act shall take effect immediately, and shall be applicable to a lease, renewal, or extension agreement, executed on or after the effective date of this act.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     This bill would require a landlord to provide a receipt to a residential tenant if the tenant pays the landlord in cash for rent, or any other charge for which the tenant is liable to the landlord.

     The receipt must include the following information:

     the name and address of the landlord;

     the name and title of the agent of the landlord, if the cash payment is made to an agent;

     the name and address of the tenant;

     the date and amount of the cash payment;

     a description of what the cash payment covers, including, when the payment is for rent, the month or other period of time that the cash payment covers; and

     the signature of the landlord, or the agent of the landlord, as applicable.

     The bill requires a landlord to retain a paper copy of each receipt provided to a tenant for two calendar years.

     The bill also subjects a landlord who does not provide a receipt to a tenant for a cash payment to financial penalties.