This bill requires all municipalities with a population of 25,000 or more to adopt an ordinance creating a fair rent commission. They must do so through their legislative bodies by July 1, 2023. It also requires the chief executive officers of these municipalities, within 30 days after an ordinance is adopted, to (1) notify the Department of Housing (DOH) commissioner and (2) give her a copy of the ordinance. Under the bill, municipalities’ populations are determined by the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent decennial census (i.e., 2020). The bill allows two or more municipalities, each with populations under 25,000, to create joint fair rent commissions through their legislative bodies.

Current law allows the legislative body of any town, city, or borough (or certain combinations thereof) to create a fair rent commission in order to (1) control and eliminate excessive rental charges and (2) carry out certain landlord-tenant statutes. Specifically, commissions have the power to:

1. conduct studies or investigations;
2. hold hearings;
3. receive rent complaints;
4. require people to appear at hearings;
5. issue subpoenas and administer oaths; and
6. issue, continue, review, amend, terminate, or suspend their orders and decisions.