3. a. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, no residential tenant of a very low-income household, low-income household, moderate-income household, or middle-income household shall be evicted based upon nonpayment or habitual late payment of rent, or failure to pay a rent increase, that accrued during the covered period. Payments made by a tenant after the covered period ends shall be credited first to the current month‘s rental obligation, and any balance shall be credited to any arrearage owed by the tenant incurred following the conclusion of the covered period, and then to any arrearages incurred during the covered period.

b. Any amount of rent found by a court to be due and owing by a residential tenant described in subsection a. of this section to a landlord during the covered period for which compensation is not otherwise provided by any public or private source, shall be considered civil debt and may be pursued as a money judgment in the appropriate division of the Superior Court. Such civil debt based on rental arrears shall be considered evidence of housing instability or risk of homelessness for the purpose of qualifying a household for rental assistance under any federal, State, county, or local program, including, but not limited to, the Eviction Prevention Program, as revised pursuant to section 4 of P.L.2021, c.188 (C. 52:27D-287.10).

c. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, no person shall sell or assign any civil debt relating to rent that accrued during the covered period.

d. Any amount of rent due and owing either prior to the start of the covered period or after the covered period ends may be pursued in the manner allowed by law for any other landlord-tenant action for rent due outside of the covered period. The provisions of P.L.2021, c.188 (C. 52:27D-287.7 et al.) shall not restrict a landlord from pursuing a money judgment action during the covered period, or following the covered period, for unpaid rent due during the covered period. An action by a landlord against a residential tenant to recover unpaid rent which accrued during the covered period may be commenced in the Superior Court, Special Civil Part, regardless of the amount in controversy. The Administrative Director of the Courts may take any administrative action as may be necessary to provide a process for filing these actions in the Superior Court, Special Civil Part.

(1) (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section to the contrary, any tenant of a very low-income household, a low-income household, or a moderate-income household shall have continued protections from evictions as those that are applicable during the covered period pursuant to subsections a. and b. of this section for residential rent arrearages incurred from the end of the covered period through December 31, 2021 if the household certifies under penalty of perjury:

(i) the household’s income;

(ii) that the household was unable to pay rent due to circumstances arising from the COVID-19 pandemic; and

(iii) that the household has applied for State, county, or local rental assistance programs for which they are eligible.

(b) The certification required by subparagraph (a) of this paragraph shall be made on a form established by the department. The tenant shall provide a copy of the completed form to the landlord, and, if there is a pending eviction action, to the court.

(2) The Administrative Director of the Courts shall provide notice to any residential tenant who is party to a landlord-tenant dispute for nonpayment of rent that includes information regarding tenant protections, income and COVID-19 impact attestation, and rental assistance programs established pursuant to P.L.2021, c.188 (C. 52:27D-287.7 et al.).

e. All pending eviction actions alleging nonpayment or habitual late payment of residential rent, or failure to pay a rent increase, that accrued during the covered period shall be dismissed upon certification by the tenant, under penalty of perjury, in accordance with subparagraph (b) of paragraph (1) of subsection d. of this section that the tenant is a very low-income household, low-income household, moderate-income household, or middle-income household and that the reason for filing was nonpayment or habitual late payment of rent, or failure to pay a rent increase, during the covered period.

f. If a case is dismissed and the landlord is required to subsequently file against the same tenant, the landlord may request that the case be reinstated with the court. In such circumstances the landlord shall pay the fees to serve the amended action, but no court filing fees shall be required.

g. A tenant in such an action shall retain the right to assert any and all counterclaims, setoffs, legal defenses, affirmative defenses, and equitable defenses that would otherwise be available to them.

h. As a condition of receiving any State or federal rental assistance on behalf of a tenant for rent due and owing, a landlord shall waive all late fees assessed for rent unpaid during the period for which assistance is being provided.

i. (1) Consistent with the provisions of 15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(a)(1)(F), a landlord shall not at any time furnish information about the nonpayment or late payment of residential rent, or failure to pay a rent increase, which accrued during the covered period, or summary dispossess or other court filings or proceedings related to non-payment or late payment of residential rent which accrued during the covered period, directly to another residential landlord, or to a debt collection or credit reporting agency. This paragraph shall not:

(a) apply to a tenant’s rent payments that remain due as the result of a payment missed prior to the March 1, 2020, including payments held in escrow before that date; or

(b) limit the ability of a landlord to share information with the landlord’s attorney or property management company, or to notice the tenant in compliance with the Anti-Eviction Act, P.L.1974, c.49 (C. 2A:18-61.1 et seq.).

(2) As a result of any record or information reflecting a tenant’s non-payment or late payment of residential rent, or a related court filing, during the covered period, a landlord shall not:

(a) refuse to rent to a prospective tenant of residential rental housing; or

(b) place, or disseminate a residential tenant’s information for the purpose of placing, a tenant on a list for the use of other landlords for any purpose.

(3) In addition to a tenant’s right to pursue an action seeking injunctive or declaratory relief for a violation of this subsection, the Attorney General, in response to a complaint from a tenant, or on the Attorney General’s independent initiative, may bring an action alleging a landlord has violated the provisions of this subsection. Regarding a first violation, the court shall provide the landlord with an opportunity to correct the violation prior to imposing a penalty. Following the provision of this opportunity to correct any first violation, upon a finding that non-compliance with this subsection has occurred, a court of competent jurisdiction may:

(a) order the non-compliant landlord to retract the report of debt or court filing data provided to the collection or credit reporting agency, bureau, or data collection facility;

(b) impose a fine on the non-compliant landlord, not to exceed $500 for a first violation, $1,000 for a second violation, and $2,500 for each subsequent violation;

(c) order the non-compliant landlord to pay a reasonable counsel fee in connection with a tenant whose debt has been reported to a debt collection or credit reporting agency, bureau, or data collection facility;

(d) provide a copy of the order immediately upon the request of the tenant and at no cost to the tenant;

(e) order the non-compliant landlord to take such steps as are necessary, within 30 days of the order, to rehabilitate the credit record of the tenant, with an exact copy provided to the tenant at no cost, of the efforts made in that regard; and

(f) if the tenant is able to show actual damages that have resulted from a violation of this section, order the non-compliant landlord to pay an award of damages to the tenant not to exceed 25 percent of the debt attempted to be collected or reported by the non-complaint landlord to the collection or credit reporting agency, bureau, or data collection facility, with a minimum award of $350.

(4) If a landlord furnishes rental payment data to another landlord, collection or credit reporting agency related to the non-payment of rent during the covered period, but before the enactment of P.L.2021, c.188 (C. 52:27D-287.7 et al.), the landlord shall not be subject to the penalty provisions of this section, except for an order to retract the report pursuant to paragraph (3) of this subsection.

L.2021, c.188, s.3.