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Committee advances homelessness-prevention bill that raises eviction filing fee
Summary
The committee released S.268, a substitute that revises the homelessness prevention program, includes a filing-fee increase for eviction proceedings and consolidates related DCA rules; testimony featured eviction researchers, housing advocates and landlord representatives debating the fee’s effects.
Senate bill S.268 (committee substitute) was released after extended testimony over homelessness-prevention funding and a proposed increase in the eviction filing fee. Committee staff described the substitute as codifying Department of Community Affairs rules and merging provisions addressing eviction-filing fees and use of those fees for homelessness-prevention purposes.
The hearing drew sharply contrasting testimony. Peter Hepburn of the Eviction Lab (introduced as an associate director and researcher) told the committee that increasing eviction filing fees can reduce serial eviction filings and lower the number of filings overall. He said New Jersey’s then-current filing fee was $50 and cited Eviction Lab estimates indicating a high filing rate statewide; he told the committee that raising the fee toward levels in neighboring jurisdictions would be consistent with research showing reductions in filings. "Research ... finds that increasing eviction filing fees significantly reduces eviction filings, serial eviction filings and eviction judgments," he said.
Catherine Best, director of government affairs for New Jersey Realtors, testified in opposition to the new filing-fee structure on behalf of small landlords, urging consideration of exemptions for smaller owners who may be disproportionately affected. The New Jersey Apartment Association and other landlord groups also opposed the fee as potentially burdensome to small-property owners and argued the funding source for prevention should not come solely from property owners.
Advocates for the homeless-prevention approach — including the New Jersey Coalition to End Homelessness and Fair Share Housing Center — supported the fee increase and the bill’s aim to bolster prevention programming, noting steep recent increases in homelessness and potential federal funding cuts. Raissa Scribe Stankiewicz of the Coalition cited a 45% increase in homelessness over two years and gave point-in-time figures for 2024.
Committee members questioned witnesses about the fee’s likely size and revenue, the number of eviction filings per year and whether small landlords could be exempted or provided waivers. The committee ultimately released S.268 to the next legislative stage for further consideration.
