New Jersey landlords would report rent increases for public summaries

Owners or their agents would report rent increases to the Department of Community Affairs when notifying tenants. Existing legal definitions determine which rental buildings and owners are covered. Failing to report or knowingly filing false or incomplete information would carry a $1,000 fine. Each month of charging an unreported or incorrectly reported increase would count separately for each affected apartment. The requirements would take effect on the first day of the sixth month following enactment and cover rent increases implemented on or after that date.

The Department of Community Affairs would publish and maintain a public rent increase dashboard. Summaries would cover each municipality, each county, and the state. The dashboard would show averages and the share of increases in four percentage ranges. The commissioner could include other combined data. The requirement would take effect on the first day of the sixth month following enactment.