Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee Statement to Assembly, No. 3956 (May 7, 2020)

Summary

An Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee statement to Assembly, No. 3956, State of New Jersey, dated May 7, 2020, reporting the bill favorably with committee amendments. The bill establishes a temporary emergency rental assistance program for residential tenants who lost income due to the COVID-19 crisis and appropriates $100 million, run by the Commissioner of Community Affairs along the lines of the Homelessness Prevention Program. It extends aid to medium-income tenants, up to 120 percent of Area Median Income, who are at least 30 days past due, with payments made directly to landlords. Funding is to come first from federal assistance, including reallocated CDBG-DR funds, and the bill is identical to Senate Bill No. 2332.

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ASSEMBLY COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY,
No. 3956

with
committee amendments

STATE
OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: MAY 7,
2020

The Assembly Commerce and Economic Development
Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No.
3956.

This bill, as amended by the committee, establishes a temporary
emergency rental assistance program for residential tenants who have suffered
an income loss due to the COVID-19 crisis. The bill, as amended, appropriates
$100 million to provide rental assistance to tenants across the State.

The bill, as amended, directs
the Commissioner of Community Affairs to implement this program along the
lines of the Homelessness Prevention Program, (HPP), however, for the purpose
of this new program, the bill requires the commissioner to modify current HPP rules
and guidelines in several ways in order to address the needs of tenants who are
in difficult financial circumstances because of the COVID-19 crisis. Notably,
the bill directs the commissioner to modify current HPP rules so to provide rental
assistance to tenants before they face eviction, and so to provide rental
assistance to tenants of medium-income (in addition to tenants of low- and
moderate-income). Medium-income refers to persons and households with greater
than 80 percent of Area Median Income (AMI) and up to 120 percent of AMI.

The bill, as amended, directs the Commissioner of
Community Affairs to distribute an amount of program funds for each county and
applicant based, in part, on the fair market rents in each county, according to
the most recent fair market rents published by the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development. Under the bill, the commissioner would provide funds to
each HPP agency to be used exclusively for providing emergency rental
assistance payments for eligible tenants. However, for the purposes of this
program, the bill authorizes the commissioner to designate an additional agency
or agencies to process applications and disburse emergency rental assistance
payments in more populated, and more densely populated counties.

The program would pay certain amounts of rent due and
owing on behalf of tenants who: 1) are at least 30 days past due on a rent
payment; 2) are unable to pay rent without assistance; and 3) have suffered a
demonstrable loss in income due to the COVID-19 crisis.

The bill, as amended, directs HPP agencies to verify
with the landlord the amount of rent due and owing before disbursing program
funds, and requires landlords to cooperate with and respond to inquiries from a
HPP Agency. Upon verification of the amount of rent due and owing, and a
determination that an application satisfies all program requirements, a HPP
Agency would disburse a payment of program funds, to the extent funds are
available, directly to the landlord on the tenant’s behalf and provide a copy
of the disbursement directly to the tenant.

The bill, as amended, directs the Commissioner of
Community Affairs to:

· expeditiously seek federal government approval for a substantial
action plan amendment to reallocate uncommitted, unexpended Community
Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds to the “2020 New
Jersey Emergency Rental Assistance Program,” and

· identify amounts of federal government assistance provided to
this State with regard to the Coronavirus disease 2019 which may be available
for the purposes of this program and allocate those amounts to this program.

The bill, as amended, specifies that the $100 million
being credited to the “2020 New Jersey Emergency Rental Assistance Program”
shall be funded first from assistance provided from the federal government, to
the extent not prohibited by federal law, which shall include uncommitted,
unexpended CDBG-DR funds reallocated under the bill to the “2020 New Jersey
Emergency Rental Assistance Program,” and that the remaining amounts necessary
to fund this program are appropriated from the General Fund.

The bill takes effect immediately. The program would
expire upon the completion of processing of all applications for assistance
submitted on or prior to the 90th day next following the end of the eviction
moratorium ordered by the Governor pursuant to Executive Order No. 106 (2020)
or modified by the Governor in a subsequent executive order.

As reported by the committee, this bill is identical
to Senate Bill No. 2332, which was also amended and reported by the committee
on this date.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

The committee amendments provide that the bill’s
direction to first fund the “2020 New Jersey Emergency Rental Assistance
Program” from assistance provided from the federal government includes uncommitted,
unexpended CDBG-DR funds reallocated under the bill to the “2020 New Jersey
Emergency Rental Assistance Program.”

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