Requires residential landlord to accept rent payment by certain means; increases penalty for violating certain rent acceptance requirements.

The time window during which landlords must accept rent payments was narrowed from 'on time or at any time before the three business day period' to only during specific grace periods: the three business days after a warrant for removal is posted or lockout is executed, the statutory grace period under C.2A:42-6.1, or any other grace period established by law.

Personal checks were removed from the list of payment methods landlords must accept. In their place, payments made through a friend, family member, or other third party are now explicitly included as acceptable methods.

A new provision (subsection b.(2)) states that if a rental assistance program or charitable organization commits to paying rent on behalf of a tenant, that commitment is treated as payment under the law. The landlord must provide documentation needed for the program to remit the payment.

The provision requiring tenants to pay fees for returned personal checks and allowing landlords to ban future personal check payments after a bounce was deleted entirely, consistent with removing personal checks from required payment methods.

A new provision allows a tenant facing eviction to raise a landlord's violation of this section as a defense in the eviction action and apply the $2,000 penalty to offset any rental arrears found to be lawfully owed.

A new sentence clarifies that tenants may make rent payments through any combination of permitted sources or methods, or in compliance with the referenced grace period statutes or lease provisions.