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Read. Follow. Verify.New Jersey bill requires Department of Community Affairs to build online database of affordable housing settlements
Last action · January 13, 2026: Introduced, Referred to Assembly Housing CommitteeSponsors: Azzariti Jr., John V., M.D. and 1 other
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What This Bill Would Do
The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs is required to create and maintain a public online database detailing affordable housing s and settlement agreements completed on or after January 1, 2015. Municipalities, courts, and other parties to these actions must supply the department with the information needed to build the database upon request.
Makes previously scattered legal agreements, unit counts, and municipal payments regarding affordable housing accessible in a single public portal.
- In 2015, the New Jersey Supreme Court assigned Superior Court judges ('Mount Laurel judges') to handle municipal affordable housing obligations after concluding the Council on Affordable Housing was nonfunctional. context
- Declaratory judgment actions in New Jersey courts have served as the primary mechanism for municipalities to gain compliance certification under the Fair Housing Act, often resulting in settlement agreements with organizations such as the Fair Share Housing Center. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Department of Community Affairs
Must develop, maintain, update, and host the online database of settlement agreements.
Municipalities
Must provide necessary declaratory judgment action data and payment records to the department upon request.
Superior Court judges
Mount Laurel-designated judges must provide necessary information to the department upon request.
General Public
Gains online access to records of municipal affordable housing obligations and settlement payments.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What information will be included in the new database?
Who is required to provide information for the database?
When does the database requirement apply retroactively?
What else do you want to know?
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
1 action- Jan 13, 2026HouseIntroducedIntroduced, Referred to Assembly Housing Committee
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Centralization of Municipal Housing Data
Shifts the tracking of post-2015 court-administered affordable housing settlements from fragmented court files and municipal records into a single statewide online platform.
Connected Entities
Sources
njleg.state.nj.us
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance50How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy20Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
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