Trenton – In an effort to protect renters from housing discrimination, legislation sponsored by Senator Troy Singleton, which would establish confidentiality standards for rental records, was enacted into law. Senator Singleton issued the following statement in response to the signing of the law:

“According to New Jersey court records, around 60,000 eviction cases are currently pending statewide with almost 200,000 more expected by 2022 due to the pandemic.

“With so many people facing the threat of eviction, we have to protect them from being unfairly barred from renting again by creating confidentiality requirements for court records during the pandemic.

“With such a long history surrounding housing discrimination in this state and country, this was the right thing to do. I am proud that so many people came together to make this happen.”

The new law, formerly S-3713, will establish confidentiality standards for court records of landlord-tenant actions filed with the court during the COVID-19 pandemic public health emergency to prevent companies from compiling public records and data on tenants. These records would remain unavailable to the public indefinitely.