NJ A2089

Establishes a statewide habitability database maintained by the Commissioner of Community Affairs to track housing code violations, implied warranty of habitability breaches, and safety citations for all residential rental properties in New Jersey.

Requires municipal agencies to report all habitability, fire safety, health, and utility violations to the database within 72 hours, with violations categorized by severity (non-hazardous, hazardous, immediately hazardous) and frequency.

Database contents serve as prima facie evidence in landlord-tenant court proceedings, with courts required to take judicial notice of the information and make it available to all litigants.

Imposes penalties of $500 for first offense and $1,000 for subsequent offenses against landlords who fail to include required attorney's fee reciprocity clauses in leases, enforceable by both government action and private tenant lawsuits.

Expands tenant rights by removing the exclusion of public housing residents from bringing private actions against landlords for habitability defects under existing law.