NEW JERSEY APARTMENT ASSOCIATION APPLAUDS COMMITTEE RELEASE OF RENTAL ASSISTANCE BILL 

(MONROE TOWNSHIP, NJ) – The New Jersey Apartment Association (NJAA) applauds the release of S-3357 from the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee today. The bill, sponsored by Senator Stack, provides $350 million in rental assistance to landlords and tenants who are struggling during this global pandemic.

NJAA Executive Director David Brogan said, “We thank Senator Stack for taking a leadership role on this bill and applaud the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee for unanimously passing it out of committee today. We hope to see a vote from the full Senate in short order.”

New Jersey received $589 million in rental assistance from the federal COVID relief bill passed in December 2020. New Jersey may receive additional rental assistance funds from the $1.9 trillion bill being debated in Congress now. S-3357 creates the ‘Landlord Emergency Compensation Program’ utilizing federal funds to allow landlords to apply for financial assistance for unpaid rent. “Make no mistake, this is a bill that helps both landlords and tenants equally. Unlike other bills that attempt to shift the financial burden from tenants to landlords without providing any assistance, this bill is a real solution to the problems we collectively face.”

“The multifamily ecosystem consists of tenants, landlords, homeowners, municipalities, and the State. They are inextricably connected, so if rent revenue doesn’t come in, it impacts all of the other components of the ecosystem.” Brogan went on to say, “The multifamily industry pays over a billion dollars a year in property taxes, and if rent revenue diminishes, that could trigger a massive property tax shift onto homeowners. The only way to prevent this property tax shift is direct rental assistance. Senator Stack and Senate President Sweeney were early advocates for rental assistance, which laid the groundwork for one of the first rental assistance programs in the country. Their forward thinking will not only help tenants and landlords, it will help homeowners, municipalities and the State as a whole.”

Brogan concluded by saying, “Throughout this pandemic, some have tried to pit tenants against landlords and vice versa. But S-3357 which was released from committee today looks at the problem holistically and recognizes that we are truly in this together. Now, with a significant funding source, which NJAA has been calling for since April, we can start helping both tenants and landlords in a truly meaningful way.”

The New Jersey Apartment Association (NJAA) is the premier trade association representing all facets of the multifamily housing industry, including market rate and affordable housing owners, managers and developers, as well as suppliers. NJAA’s membership owns and manages over 220,000 apartments, providing quality housing to over one million New Jerseyans.