A3361 1R Senate Statement 2/25/25

These floor amendments:

(1) define the term "manufactured home" as a structure for which the manufacturer has filed a certification required by the Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and which complies with the standards under the National Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42. U.S.C. s.5401 et seq.);

(2) define the term "industrialized or modular building" as any building of closed construction, including, but not limited to, modular housing that is factory-built single-family and multi-family housing, including closed-wall, panelized housing, as well as other modular, nonresidential buildings;

(3) exclude from the definition of an "industrialized or modular building" any structure subject to the requirements of the National Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974;

(4) replace all references to a "modular or manufactured home" with the terms "industrialized or modular buildings," or "manufactured homes";

(5) specify that a landlord may petition the Commissioner of Community Affairs (commissioner) to request approval to increase the rent on a covered dwelling site in excess of three percent;

(6) enumerate certain costs to be included in the landlord’s petition for a rent increase, demonstrating that the landlord’s present income is insufficient to cover unanticipated increases in the costs of: the abatement of hazardous conditions, taxes, assessments, maintenance to the manufactured home park, utilities, insurance, and management of the manufactured home park;

(7) provide that, in determining whether to grant a landlord’s petition to approve a rent increase exceeding three percent, there is to be a rebuttable presumption that the rent increase is reasonable and not unconscionable;

(8) provide that, if the tenant offers evidence sufficient to overcome the rebuttable presumption, the commissioner may, after a hearing, grant the landlord a rent increase sufficient to meet the landlord’s requirements or needs after certain considerations;

(9) provide that, if the commissioner fails to act within 90 days of the landlord’s submission of a petition, a rent increase on a covered dwelling site is to be deemed approved, provided the rent increase otherwise complies with the provisions of the bill;

(10) specify that the provisions of the bill would not preempt an ordinance, rule, or regulation, or other law regarding rent control, rent leveling, or rent stabilization adopted by the governing body of a municipality (municipal rent control law) that:

§ provides a fixed, numerical municipal rent increase limit that is not based upon, in whole or in part, the Consumer Price Index, or other variable criteria;

§ was adopted in a municipality that provides and utilizes a rent leveling board or similar municipal agency charged with regulating rents; and

§ provides a rent increase limit on a covered dwelling site that is less than or equal to three percent over the course of a 12-month period, regardless of exceptions permitted in the municipal law, including but not limited to, whether a determination, made by a rent leveling board or similar municipal agency authorizes an exemption from the limit provided by the municipal rent control law, resulting in a rent increase on a covered dwelling site that is greater than three percent over the course of a 12-month period, provided the exceptions are not based upon the Consumer Price Index, or other variable criteria; and

(11) specify that the provisions of the bill would preempt a municipal rent control law that:

§ provides a rent increase limit on a covered dwelling site that is greater than three percent over the course of a 12-month period;

§ does not provide a fixed, numerical municipal rent increase limit, and instead is based upon, in whole or in part, the Consumer Price Index, or other variable criteria; or

§ was adopted in a municipality that does not provide or utilize a rent leveling board or similar municipal agency charged with regulating rents;

(12) provide that if a municipal rent control law is preempted pursuant to the bill due to the failure of the municipality, in which such a municipal rent control law was adopted, to provide or utilize a rent leveling board or similar municipal agency charged with regulating rents, the bill would not preempt the fixed, numerical municipal rent increase limit provided in the municipal rent control law, but would otherwise preempt the municipal rent control law; and

(13) make technical corrections to the bill.