New Jersey S 3097: Prohibits electric public utilities from discontinuing service or failing to restore service to residential customer if customer has medical need for uninterrupted electric service.

Bill Text

S3097 1R 

[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 3097 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

� 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Senator BENJIE E. WIMBERLY

District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)

Senator ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT

District 31 (Hudson)

SYNOPSIS

���� "Protection of Homeownership and Limiting 
Institutional Investor Acquisition Act"; imposes limitations and 
establishes certain incentives and disincentives concerning acquisition of 
single-family residences.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT 

���� As reported by the Senate Community and Urban Affairs 
Committee on February 5, 2026, with amendments.

�� 

An Act promoting family homeownership, including 
through restrictions, assistance, and tax incentives and disincentives related 
to single-family residences, and supplementing and amending various parts of 
the statutory law.

���� Be It 
Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of 
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� (New 
section)� P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this 
bill) shall be known and may be cited as the "Protection of Homeownership 
and Limiting Institutional Investor Acquisition Act."

���� 2.��� (New 
section)� The Legislature finds and declares that:

���� a.���� The 
Great Recession of 2008-2009 and the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to 
fundamental changes in the real estate market and facilitated a dramatic 
transfer of wealth from low-, moderate-, and middle-income households to the 
wealthy, due in substantial part to the surge of institutional investors in the 
residential real estate market that purchase and convert substantial numbers of 
single-family homes into rental properties;

���� b.��� Single-family 
homes purchased by institutional investors may be completely taken off the 
market for individual homebuyers, leading to the concentration of single-family 
homes, capital, and market power in the hands of large institutional investors;

���� c.���� Institutional 
investors thereby cripple the ability of individual homebuyers to compete with 
and purchase single-family homes, since institutional investors have a ready 
supply of capital, high liquidity, and significant bargaining power compared to 
individual homebuyers;

���� d.��� Homeownership, 
which commonly begins with the purchase of a small- or moderate-sized 
single-family home, or starter home, is essential for building wealth and for 
retirement, including through equity, tax deduction incentives, and capital 
gains exclusions on sales, and therefore provides for generational wealth;

���� e.���� The 
influx of institutional investors in the real estate market has contributed to 
the increase in the cost of living, which has skyrocketed since 2008, making 
the American dream of homeownership unattainable for many;

���� f.���� While 
an October 2022 study, entitled "Buying 
New Jersey: The Rise of Institutional Ownership of Residential Properties," produced by the Office of Policy and 
External Affairs in the Department of Community Affairs, observed that 
approximately six percent of residential properties were institutionally owned 
as of 2020, institutional investors wield a tremendous amount of market power 
at significantly lower market shares; 

���� g.� The unique structure of 
the housing market enables institutional investors, through their purchasing 
behavior, to manipulate both supply and demand in the markets for single-family 
home sales and single-family home rentals; 

���� h.��� To account for the gross 
imbalance in market power between institutional investors and individual 
homebuyers in New Jersey, it is critical for legislative responses to not only 
place reasonable restrictions on the ability of institutional investors to dominate 
the residential real estate market, but also to increase the power of 
individual homebuyers to compete with institutional investors; and

���� i.���� Therefore, it is 
necessary and proper for the Legislature to place reasonable restrictions on 
institutional investors related to the purchase of single-family homes; impose 
tax incentives and disincentives on certain acquisitions by institutional 
investors to help stabilize homeownership opportunities for New Jersey 
families; provide additional down payment assistance for individual homebuyers 
for the purchase of starter homes; expedite the production of single-family and 
starter homes by reducing certain statutory and regulatory impediments; provide 
tax incentives for the development of single-family and starter homes; and 
enable individual New Jersey homebuyers to claim certain gross income tax 
deductions.

���� 3.��� (New section)� As used 
in sections 3 and 4 of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� and������� ) (pending before 
the Legislature as this bill):

���� "Affordable housing" 
means an inclusionary development, as defined pursuant to subsection f. of 
section 4 of P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-304), and other low- and moderate-income 
housing.

���� "Benefi