New Jersey Statutes 46:15-15. Findings, declarations regarding discriminatory restrictive covenants in deeds
Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 46:15-15
- Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
- Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
- Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
- person: includes corporations, companies, associations, societies, firms, partnerships and joint stock companies as well as individuals, unless restricted by the context to an individual as distinguished from a corporate entity or specifically restricted to one or some of the above enumerated synonyms and, when used to designate the owner of property which may be the subject of an offense, includes this State, the United States, any other State of the United States as defined infra and any foreign country or government lawfully owning or possessing property within this State. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- real property: include lands, tenements and hereditaments and all rights thereto and interests therein. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
- State: extends to and includes any State, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia and the Canal Zone. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
a. Restrictive covenants in deeds for real property that establish certain restrictions on the ownership or use of real property are prohibited by sections 4 and 11 of the “Law Against Discrimination,” P.L.1945, c.169 (C. 10:5-4 and C. 10:5-12), including restrictions on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, affectional or sexual orientation, familial status, disability, liability for service in the Armed Forces of the United States, nationality, sex, gender identity or expression, or source of lawful income used for rental or mortgage payments.
b. While these forms of restrictive covenants are unlawful and therefore unenforceable, no State law currently exists that would require an unlawful and unenforceable restrictive covenant that currently exists in a deed for real property to be removed. Unsuspecting homeowners or potential home buyers who encounter restrictive language in a deed and do not understand the intricacies of the “Law Against Discrimination” may be discouraged from buying a home or continuing to reside in a home for which the ownership document, the deed, contains this language. Furthermore, a person who has purchased a home without realizing that such language is contained in the deed may feel shocked and upset after reading the deed.
c. Allowing this type of language to continue to be contained in a legal document recorded by a governmental entity of the State of New Jersey, either the county clerk or the county register of deeds and mortgages, is a reminder of a hurtful and shameful national legacy that has been outlawed by the United States Congress, and by the New Jersey Legislature through the “Law Against Discrimination.”
d. The Virginia Legislature recently enacted a law prohibiting the recording of a deed after July 1, 2020 that references the specific portion of a restrictive covenant purporting to restrict the ownership or use of the property as prohibited under the Virginia Fair Housing Law. The Virginia law also provides a property owner the ability to legally remove such an unenforceable restrictive covenant from their deed.
e. The New Jersey Legislature has reviewed this Virginia law and has determined that such a law shall be enacted in this State in furtherance of the Legislature’s continuing efforts to ensure that the hateful and hurtful legacy embodied in many land transactions is forever removed from State land deeds.
L.2021, c.274, s.1.