4.1 New Jersey Fair Housing Laws

How NJ Fair Housing Builds on Federal Law

The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) protects seven classes: race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability (handicap), and familial status. New Jersey layers its own statute, the Law Against Discrimination (LAD), N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 et seq., on top of those. The exam tests the LAD additions hard, because they are where state practice diverges from the national portion.

Protected Classes Compared

Source of income is the single most-tested NJ-only class. It means a landlord generally may not refuse a tenant because the rent will be paid with a Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8), rental assistance, alimony, child support, Social Security, or disability benefits. A landlord may still apply neutral, evenly-applied screening (credit, references, an income-to-rent ratio) as long as the voucher amount counts toward the income test — the landlord cannot run an income multiple against only the tenant's cash portion to engineer a rejection.

Worked scenario: A unit rents for $1,800/month. An applicant has a Section 8 voucher covering $1,400 and earns $30,000/year. A landlord who requires "income equal to 3× the full rent" ($64,800) and counts only the applicant's $400 cash share fails the LAD: the voucher portion must be treated as guaranteed income, so only the $400 tenant share is screened against earnings.

Trap: "We don't take Section 8" in a listing is a per-se LAD violation. The license-holder who drafts or posts that ad is personally liable, not just the owner.

Reasonable Accommodations for Disability

The LAD (like the FHA) requires landlords to grant reasonable accommodations (rule changes, such as allowing a service or emotional-support animal in a "no-pets" building) and to permit reasonable modifications (physical changes like a ramp). In NJ, a housing provider generally cannot charge a pet deposit for a legitimate assistance animal. Familial-status protection bars refusing families with children except in qualifying 55+ communities.

Enforcement, Deadlines, and Penalties

The Division on Civil Rights (DCR), housed in the Office of the Attorney General, investigates and prosecutes LAD claims. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) handles parallel federal claims, and the DCR is a HUD "substantially equivalent" agency, so a single filing can satisfy both.

Two Tracks for a Victim

A claimant must choose one track; filing with the DCR generally bars a later court suit on the same facts (election of remedies). The DCR investigates, attempts conciliation, and if probable cause is found, the matter is heard before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) at the Office of Administrative Law.

Remedies the LAD Allows

• Compensatory damages (out-of-pocket loss)
• Emotional-distress / humiliation damages
• Punitive damages for willful, egregious conduct
• Attorney's fees and costs to a prevailing complainant
• Statutory penalties payable to the State (up to $10,000 first offense, escalating to $50,000 for repeat violations)
• Injunctive relief ordering the unit be made available

Prohibited Acts and Narrow Exemptions

The LAD bans the familiar list: refusing to sell or rent, steering (channeling buyers toward or away from areas), blockbusting (inducing panic sales), discriminatory financing or appraisal, and false "not available" statements. New Jersey exemptions are narrower than federal ones:

Fair Chance in Housing Act

New Jersey's Fair Chance in Housing Act (effective 2022) bars most landlords from asking about criminal history before extending a conditional offer, then limits which records may be considered (for example, older or dismissed charges) and requires an individualized assessment before withdrawal. The Equal Housing Opportunity logo and slogan are still required on advertising.

Licensee Liability and Steering

The LAD reaches the agent, not just the owner. A salesperson who answers "that neighborhood would be a better fit for your family" while routing buyers by race, religion, or familial status commits steering, even with no overt slur. Repeating an owner's discriminatory instruction ("don't show it to families with kids") is no defense — the licensee must refuse and, in many cases, withdraw. Discriminatory conduct is also a separate NJREC license-law violation under N.J.S.A. 45:15-17(t), so one act can produce both a DCR penalty and license discipline.

Exam tip: A licensee can never claim an exemption to participate in discrimination. The exemptions protect certain small owners acting alone, not agents.