Bill Text: NJ S2372 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Allows termination of motor vehicle lease in event of death; prohibits imposition of fee for early termination.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-29 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Transportation Committee [S2372 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S2372-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator JAMES BEACH
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
SYNOPSIS
Allows termination of motor vehicle lease in event of death; prohibits imposition of fee for early termination.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning motor vehicle leases and supplementing Title 56 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. A dealer or lessor shall allow a motor vehicle lease to be terminated early in the event of a lessee's death, if the motor vehicle was leased in this State and, at the time of the lessee's death, registered in this State.
b. A dealer or lessor shall not impose or assess a fee for the early termination of a motor vehicle lease in the event of a lessee's death pursuant to the provisions of subsection a. of this section. This subsection shall not preclude a dealer or lessor from assessing a reasonable fee for a motor vehicle returned with excess wear, use, or mileage, if specified in the lease agreement.
c. A motor vehicle lease shall not require, in the event of a lessee's death, that the decedent's surviving spouse, family member, guardian, or estate administrator or executor: (1) purchase the leased motor vehicle; (2) buy out the remainder of the lease; or (3) continue to lease the motor vehicle under the original terms of the lease.
d. A surviving spouse, family member, guardian, or estate administrator or executor shall provide a death certificate or other satisfactory proof of the lessee's death to the dealer or lessor within 60 days after the death of the decedent in order to have a lease terminated pursuant to the provisions of this section.
e. The lease shall be terminated upon return of the motor vehicle to the dealer or lessor.
f. This section shall not apply to commercial vehicles.
g. Nothing in this section shall be construed to apply to a surviving co-lessee who executed the motor vehicle lease agreement with the lessee.
2. a. A dealer or lessor shall provide written disclosure, in a contract or financing agreement to lease a motor vehicle, that the lease may be terminated early in the event of the lessee's death, pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
b. A violation of subsection a. of this section shall be subject to a penalty of $500, to be collected in a civil action by a summary proceeding under the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.).
3. Section 1 of this act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to any motor vehicle lease signed on or after the date of enactment of this act, and section 2 of this act shall take effect on the first day of the second month next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill allows a motor vehicle lease to be terminated upon the death of the lessee and the return of the vehicle to the dealer or lessor.
The bill prohibits a dealer or lessor from imposing or assessing any fee for the early termination of a vehicle lease in the event of a lessee's death. However, the dealer or lessor would be permitted to assess a reasonable fee for a vehicle returned with excess wear, use, or mileage, if specified in the lease agreement.
The bill also prohibits a lease from requiring, in the event of a lessee's death, that the decedent's surviving spouse, family member, guardian, or estate administrator or executor: 1) purchase the leased vehicle; 2) buy out the remainder of the lease; or 3) continue to lease the vehicle under the original terms of the lease.
A surviving spouse, family member, guardian, or estate administrator or executor would need to provide a death certificate, or other satisfactory proof of the lessee's death, to the dealer or lessor within 60 days after the death of the decedent. The bill provides that it is not to be construed as applying to a surviving co-lessee who executed the motor vehicle lease agreement with the lessee.
Further, the bill requires that dealers and lessors provide information about early termination in the event of death in the lease contract or financing agreement. A dealer or lessor in violation of this requirement would be subject to a $500 penalty.
