NJ A2493

Landlord-tenant court records, including eviction filings and unpaid rent cases, must be made confidential and unavailable to the public beginning on the first day of the sixth year after the action was filed

Landlords are prohibited from considering landlord-tenant actions more than five years old when evaluating prospective tenants, and tenant screening services cannot provide this information to landlords after that period

Violations carry penalties of at least $1,000 for the first offense and at least $5,000 for subsequent offenses, plus reasonable attorney fees, and tenants may bring private lawsuits in Superior Court

Courts may only permit continued publication of records beyond five years if publication serves the public interest and tenant-identifying information is removed to the greatest extent feasible

The law applies retroactively to landlord-tenant actions initiated after March 9, 2020, the start of New Jersey's COVID-19 public health emergency