Requires establishment of residential rental habitability database and provides certain penalties and causes of action concerning residential leases.

This bill requires New Jersey to create a centralized database tracking habitability violations in rental properties, including fire safety, health, and utility issues reported to landlords or municipalities. The database will categorize defects by severity (non-hazardous to immediately hazardous) and duration, and its contents will be used as evidence in court during landlord-tenant disputes. Landlords who fail to include tenant attorney fee clauses in leases face $500 penalties for first offenses and $1,000 for repeat violations, with tenants also able to sue for these penalties. Additionally, the bill removes a previous exclusion that barred public housing tenants from proactively suing landlords for habitability issues under existing law.