New Jersey A 4726: Provides immediate eligibility for participation in interscholastic athletics for certain transfer students.

Bill Text

A4726 

ASSEMBLY, No. 4726 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

� 

INTRODUCED MARCH 16, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman� KENYATTA STEWART

District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)

Assemblywoman� KATIE BRENNAN

District 32 (Hudson)

SYNOPSIS

���� Prohibits fee for keeping emotional support animal in 
residential rental property. 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT 

���� As introduced.

�� 

An Act prohibiting certain fees for keeping an emotional 
support animal in a residential rental property and supplementing chapter 8 of 
Title 46 of the Revised Statutes.

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

���� 1.� As used in P.L.��� , c.��� 
(C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):

���� "Emotional support 
animal" means an animal that a health service provider has determined 
provides the emotional support, well-being, comfort, or companionship necessary 
to alleviate the symptoms of a mental, emotional, psychological, or psychiatric 
condition or illness.� An emotional support animal shall not be subject to the 
provisions of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.��������� ) (pending before the Legislature as 
this bill) if it poses a risk to the health or safety of other people or a risk 
of substantial damage to the property.

���� "Landlord" means any person or entity, or their agent, who rents or leases or offers to 
rent or lease, for a term of at least one month, dwelling units, except dwelling 
units in hotels, motels, or other guest houses serving transient or seasonal 
guests.� "Landlord" also 
means a third-party screening vendor used by an owner, lessor, or property 
manager of a residential rental dwelling unit to screen prospective tenants or 
facilitate a prospective tenant�s application for renting the dwelling unit.

���� "Substantial 
damage" means damage that affects the structural integrity, safety, 
sanitation, or habitability of the dwelling unit or residential building or 
requires repair or replacement beyond that required due to ordinary wear and 
tear.

���� "Tenant" means any 
person who rents or leases, for a term of at least one month, a dwelling unit, 
except dwelling units in hotels, motels, or other guest houses serving 
transient or seasonal guests.� "Tenant" shall also mean an applicant, 
prospective tenant, or other person who applies to rent or lease, or seeks to 
rent or lease, for a term of at least one month, a dwelling unit, except a 
dwelling unit in hotels, motels, or other guest houses serving transient or 
seasonal guests.

���� "Third-party screening vendor" means a company 
or vendor that engages in the business of collecting, assembling, and 
evaluating residential tenant applications for the purpose of facilitating a 
landlord�s approval or rejection of a prospective tenant�s application.

���� 2.� a.� A landlord shall not 
charge a tenant any additional rent, fees, or other increases to the monthly 
rent or monthly fees, nonrefundable or otherwise, because a tenant keeps, or 
intends to keep, an emotional support animal in the dwelling unit.

���� b.� A landlord shall not 
require as a condition for any lease, lease addendum, or lease application that 
a tenant pay any additional security deposit, fees, or charges, nonrefundable 
or otherwise, because a tenant keeps, or intends to keep, an emotional support 
animal in the dwelling unit.

���� c.� A landlord shall not 
include within any lease, lease addendum, or lease application a provision 
requiring additional fees or charges, nonrefundable or otherwise, because a 
tenant keeps, or intends to keep, an emotional support animal in the dwelling 
unit.

���� d.� At time of lease signing, or 
promptly following the tenant's receipt of health documentation and prior to 
the tenant's acquisition of an emotional support animal, whichever is earlier, 
a tenant shall provide to the landlord documentation from a health service 
provider indicating that the tenant is being prescribed the assistance of an 
emotional support animal.� A landlord shall not require documentation in a 
specific form and shall not require that documentation from a health service 
provider be notarized.

���� e.� This section shall not 
apply to a landlord or tenant of an owner-occupied building containing four or 
fewer units.

���� 3.� a.� A tenant 
shall have the right to petition a court of competent jurisdiction to terminate 
a lease or agreement containing a provision in violation of P.L.��� , c.��� 
(C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), and shall be 
permitted to recover reasonable attorney�s fees or expenses.

���� b.� A landlord 
who violates section 2 of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������ ) (pending 
before the Legislature as this bill) shall also, at the discretion of 
the tenant, be subject to a separate cause of action by the tenant in the 
Superior Court, Law Division, Special Civil Part in the county in which the dwelling 
unit is located.� A tenant may recover $1,000 from the landlor