SENATE COMMUNITY AND URBAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 4446

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JANUARY 30, 2025

      The Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee reports favorably, and with committee amendments, Assembly Bill No. 4446.

      As amended, this bill requires the owner of a seasonal rental unit that allows pets to include in all advertisements for the seasonal rental unit notice that pets are permitted to be present at the seasonal rental unit.  The bill entitles a renter of a seasonal rental unit to sever the contract for the accommodation, and receive a full reimbursement of any payment made, if the owner fails to include notice in an advertisement, in violation of the bill.  In order to benefit from these protections, the bill requires the renter to notify the owner within 12 hours of first entering the accommodation of the renter’s decision to vacate early due to a purported violation.  The bill provides that a licensee of the New Jersey Real Estate Commission, acting as an agent of the owner nor a transient space marketplace, is not to be liable for information that is required to be disclosed by an owner if the owner fails to provide the applicable information to that entity.  This bill directs the Commissioner of Community Affairs to adopt rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the purposes of the bill on or before January 1, 2026.  The bill would take effect on January 1, 2026.

      As amended and reported by the committee, Assembly Bill No. 4446 is identical to Senate Bill No. 3390, which was also amended and reported by the committee on this date.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to provide that:

      1) owners of seasonal rental units that allow pets include in all advertisements for the seasonal rental unit notice that pets are permitted to be present;

      2) certain real estate professionals and transient space marketplaces are not to be held responsible for a violation of the bill’s provisions if the owner of a seasonal rental unit fails to provide applicable information to those entities; and

      3) the bill will take effect on January 1, 2026, rather than 2025.