State Codes and Statutes

Statutes > New-jersey > Title-2a > Section-2a-18 > 2a-18-61-23

2A:18-61.23.  Legislative findings and declarations
    The Legislature finds that research studies have demonstrated that the forced eviction and relocation of elderly persons from their established homes and communities harm the mental and physical health of these senior citizens, and that these disruptions in the lives of older persons affect adversely the social, economic and cultural characteristics of communities of the State, and increase the costs borne by all State citizens in providing for their public health, safety and welfare.  These conditions are particularly serious in light  of the rising costs of home ownership, and are of increasing concern where  rental housing is converted into condominiums or cooperatives which senior  citizens on fixed limited incomes cannot afford, an occurrence which is  becoming more and more frequent in this State under prevailing economic circumstances.  The Legislature, therefore, declares that it is in the public interest of the State to avoid the forced eviction and relocation of senior citizen tenants wherever possible, specifically in those instances where rental  housing market conditions and particular financial circumstances combine to  diminish the ability of senior citizens to obtain satisfactory comparable  housing within their established communities, and where the eviction action is  the result not of any failure of the senior citizen tenant to abide by the  terms of a lease or rental agreement, but of the owner's decision  advantageously to dispose of residential property through the device of  conversion to a condominium or cooperative.

    The Legislature further finds that it is in the public interest of the State  to avoid the forced eviction and the displacement of the handicapped wherever  possible because of their limited mobility and the limited number of housing  units which are suitable for their needs.

    The Legislature further declares that in the service of this public interest  it is appropriate that qualified senior citizen tenants and disabled tenants be  accorded a period of protected tenancy, during which they shall be entitled to  the fair enjoyment of the dwelling unit within the converted residential  structure, to continue for such time, up to 40 years, as the conditions and  circumstances which make necessary such protected tenancy shall continue.

    The Legislature further finds that the promotion of this public interest is  possible only if senior citizen tenants and disabled tenants are protected during this period from alterations in the terms of the tenancy or rent increases which are the result solely of an owner's decision to convert.

     L.1981, c. 226, s. 2, eff. July 27, 1981.