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The following Model Disclosure Statement has been drafted by the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR) to reflect housing protections set forth in the Fair Chance in Housing Act, N.J.S.A. 46:8-52 to 64, (FCHA) and the accompanying rules, N.J.A.C. 13:5.
Model Disclosure Statement:
New Jersey's Fair Chance in Housing Act, N.J.S.A. 46:8-52 to 64 (FCHA), limits a housing provider's ability to consider a person's criminal history in deciding whether to extend an offer or whether to rent a home after extending an offer.
Before making a conditional offer of housing, River Commons Apartments may consider only whether an applicant has a conviction for the manufacture or production of methamphetamine on the premises of federally assisted housing, or whether an applicant has a lifetime registration requirement under a State sex offender registration program. River Commons Apartments will not consider, or request from an applicant or any other person or entity, any other information about an applicant's criminal history as part of the application process until and unless a conditional offer of housing has been made.
After extending a conditional offer of housing, River Commons Apartments intends to review and consider an applicant's criminal record in determining whether to rent a home, in accordance with the FCHA and its accompanying rules.
River Commons Apartments will not, either before or after the issuance of a conditional offer, evaluate or consider any of the following criminal records:
(1) arrests or charges that have not resulted in a criminal conviction;
(2) expunged convictions;
(3) convictions erased through executive pardon;
(4) vacated and otherwise legally nullified convictions;
(5) juvenile adjudications of delinquency; and
(6) records that have been sealed.
River Commons Apartments may consider, after the issuance of a conditional offer, a criminal record that:
- Resulted in a conviction for murder, aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping, arson, human trafficking, sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child in violation of N.J.S.2C:24-4(b)(3);
- Resulted in a conviction for any crime that requires lifetime state sex offender registration;
- Is for any 1st degree indictable offense, or release from prison for that offense, within the past 6 years;
- Is for any 2nd or 3rd degree indictable offense, or release from prison for that offense, within the past 4 years; or
- Is for any 4th degree indictable offense, or release from prison for that offense, within the past 1 year.
For more information about how these rules apply, please refer to the resources at https://www.njoag.gov/about/divisions-and-offices/division-on-civil-rights-home/fcha/.
River Commons Apartments may withdraw a conditional offer based on your criminal record only if River Commons Apartments determines, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the withdrawal is necessary to fulfill a substantial, legitimate, and nondiscriminatory interest.
If River Commons Apartments utilizes any vendor or outside person/entity to conduct a criminal record check on their behalf, River Commons Apartments will take reasonable steps to ensure that the vendor or outside person/entity conducts the criminal record check consistent with the requirements of the FCHA and rules. Specifically, if River Commons Apartments receives a criminal history inquiry conducted by a vendor or outside person or entity that is conducted in violation of the FCHA in that it reveals a record that is not permitted to be considered under the FCHA, River Commons Apartments must show that it did not rely on that information in making a determination about your tenancy.
If you are subjected to the withdrawal of a conditional offer of housing due to criminal history, you have the right to request and receive the materials relied upon by River Commons Apartments in making this determination.
You have the right to dispute, within ten (10) days of receiving this statement, the relevance and accuracy of any criminal record, and to offer evidence of any mitigating facts or circumstances, including but not limited to your rehabilitation and good conduct since the criminal offense. You may also provide evidence demonstrating inaccuracies within aspects of your criminal record which may be considered under the FCHA, or evidence of rehabilitation or other mitigating factors to River Commons Apartments at any time, including after the ten days.
Any action taken by River Commons Apartments in violation of the process laid out in this statement may constitute a violation of the FCHA. If you believe that any owner, agent, employee, or designee of River Commons Apartments has violated any of the above requirements, you may contact the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights at www.NJCivilRights.gov 1-866-405-3050). A complaint must be filed with DCR within 180 days of the allegedly discriminatory conduct. You cannot be subjected to retaliation for filing a complaint or for attempting to exercise your rights under the FCHA.
DCR has several fair housing fact sheets available at https://www.nj.gov/oag/dcr/housing.html, or available for pickup in any of DCR's four (4) regional offices.
31 Clinton Street, 3rd Floor Newark, NJ 07102
1601 Atlantic Avenue, 6th Fl. Atlantic City, NJ 08401
5 Executive Campus Suite 107, Bldg. 5 Cherry Hill, NJ 08002
140 East Front Street, 6th Floor Trenton, NJ 08625
