Last Friday, Governor Murphy signed into law S-1368 requiring all business owners and owners of multifamily rental units to maintain certain levels of liability insurance. In addition, the new law requires that all business owners and owners of multifamily rental units annually register a certificate of insurance with the municipality where the business or rental unit is located.
The State does not make an appropriation for the cost municipalities are sure to incur to enforce its policy. A municipality is, however, authorized to charge a reasonable administrative fee for the certificate of registration. The law also does not provide any additional details or guidance to municipalities on what a certificate of insurance should contain.
When initially introduced, this legislation required the State Department of Community Affairs to act as the enforcement agent for this measure. However, last-minute amendments made shortly before both houses voted on the measure placed the onus on individual municipalities to enforce this state-mandated policy. The League did notify the sponsors and the Governor’s Office of our concerns.
The requirement for business owners and multifamily unit owners to register with the municipality becomes effective in 90 days. Please review this new law with your municipal attorney, business administrator, and clerk for more information.
Contact: Frank Marshall, Esq., Associate General Counsel, fmarshall@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x137.